Please refer to the university policy.
Inclement Weather Closure Pay Policy
Use the following FAQs and examples to help clarify how this policy is to be applied.
How will an employee know if their position is “essential” during a weather closure?
The employee’s supervisor determines which positions are essential and communicates that to the employee. Employees should ask their supervisor if this has not been communicated.What if an employee designated as essential is unable to work?
An essential employee who is unable to work and is not assigned to work from home will follow their unit process to request to use vacation or other applicable paid leave (e.g., floating holiday, compensatory time earned). Units with essential employees may choose not to approve an essential employee’s vacation request based on established unit policy. Thus, the employee’s absence may be considered unauthorized and be subject to the disciplinary action.Who determines if an employee is a capable of working at an alternative worksite (from home/remote)?
The employee’s supervisor determines this based on the position, operational needs, and unit leadership direction.What if an employee is not capable of working at an alternative worksite (from home/remote) because the employee doesn’t have the technology or systems to do so?
The employee’s supervisor should plan to determine if work can be assigned that does not require technology or systems. The supervisor may determine the employee is not capable of working at an alternative worksite and there are no assignments that can be completed during a weather closure. In that case, inclement weather pay will be authorized.If weather closure is determined in the late evening or early morning with a few hours of notice, is the employee expected to be available to complete work at an alternative worksite (from home/remote)?
Yes. The employee’s supervisor should plan ahead prior to weather closures to identify work that can be completed at an alternative worksite to avoid last minute decisions on assignments.What if an employee is assigned work and is capable of working at an alternative worksite but is unavailable for work due to a personal reason (e.g., no electricity, caring for family, tending to property damage or snow clearing, etc)?
The employee is required to follow the unit process for requesting vacation or other applicable paid leave (e.g., floating holiday, compensatory time earned).Can sick leave be used if an employee is unavailable for work during a weather closure due to their personal reason?
If the reason is due to an illness or medical appointment, sick leave can be used as per the UNL sick leave policy. Other reasons not applicable to the sick leave policy are not eligible for use of sick leave.What if an employee is assigned work and is capable of working at an alternative worksite but does not want to work?
The employee is required to follow the unit process for requesting vacation or other applicable paid leave (e.g., floating holiday, compensatory time earned).What if an employee had previously requested to be absent using paid or unpaid leave during a weather closure?
The employee will use their designated leave already authorized for the time (e.g., vacation, sick, etc.). Employees in an unpaid leave status will not receive any inclement weather leave or pay under this policy.If an employee is paid inclement weather pay, are they eligible for over-time?
Since Inclement Weather pay is a paid leave, the university does not count paid leave hours paid as “hours worked” for the purposes of calculating over-time. However, if an employee works more than 40 hours per week, overtime or compensable time off will be earned.Pay Examples
Non-Exempt (biweekly) Non-Essential Employees
- Employee is scheduled to work 8 hours on Wednesday and an inclement weather closedown is called. The employee is not assigned to work at an alternative worksite. The employee would receive 8 hours of BADW pay.
- Employee normally works 8 hours per day, five days per week. However, because of projects, the employee is officially scheduled to work five 9-hour days to get the projects completed. An inclement weather closedown occurs on one of the scheduled 9-hour days and the employee did not work at an alternative worksite. The employee would receive 9 hours of BADW pay.
- Employee normally works four 10-hour days. If inclement weather closing occurred on one of the days the employee is scheduled to work and the employee did not work at an alternative worksite, the employee would receive 10 hours of BADW. If the closure occurred on the employee’s day off because they don’t work five days per week, the employee would not receive BADW pay.
- Employee normally work from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm with a lunch hour scheduled from 12:00 to 1:00. At 11:00 am, inclement weather closedown is announced that the campus will be closed at 3:00 that day. This employee requests permission to leave work at noon for personal reasons and is not assigned to work at an alternative worksite. This employee will report 4.5 hours worked, 2 hours of vacation leave and 1.5 hours of BADW pay.
- Employee normally works a night shift (8 hours) and an inclement weather closedown is called. The employee is not assigned to work at an alternative worksite. The employee will receive 8 hours of BADW pay with their shift differential on those 8 hours.
Non-Exempt (biweekly) Essential Employees
- Employee normally works a night shift (8 hours) and an inclement weather closedown is called. The employee reports to work as required by the policy for essential employees and works the normal shift (during the closedown). The employee would receive 8 hours pay with shift differential for working and 8 hours of BADW pay with shift differential.
- Employee may choose to bank/save the 8 hours to be used later and will be paid with shift differential. The banked/saved hours are manually kept track of by the unit payroll office.
- Employee normally works 8 hours on their shift. They work 4 additional hours to cover for another employee during an inclement weather closure. The essential employee would receive 12 hours of pay for hours worked and 8 hours of BADW pay. If the number of hours worked in the workweek exceeded 40, the employee would be paid time and one-half for all hours worked over 40 and if shift differential applies, the employee would receive the appropriate shift differential.