Recognizing that snow/ice-related storms account for less than ideal traveling/road conditions, a limited number of severe weather hours will be allowed during the winter period from January until April of 2015. This severe weather hour’s program will be evaluated after April, 2015 to determine the viability of continuing such a practice in future years.
This procedure outlines the expectations related to coding, approving and paying out “severe weather hours.”
The severe weather hour’s program is only for full time direct care staff and office-based hourly staff (AA’s, Accounting and Billing). In order to code severe weather hours within the timesheet, staff in the positions listed above must first do the following:
All staff must notify their supervisor regarding their plans not to travel and the need to reschedule clients and other related work. If you have a planned shift with a client/consumer and decide it would be most safe to cancel to avoid traveling, you are responsible for notifying the client/consumer of the cancellation and appropriately reschedule. (This is why it is important to have client contact information and schedule with you, as you would need to call from home without coming into the office to access the client file.) Your supervisor will strategize alternate scheduling opportunities to allow you to meet your productivity target within the pay period, which may include scheduling clients later in the week, on evenings and Saturdays or by utilizing work-at home options (if appropriate for the position within the agency and agency
need). Your supervisor will take into consideration all situations that may be unique to you and your position when considering approval of the use of severe weather hours.
The initial approval the supervisor gives is preliminary and not final until the end of the pay period. Again, this determination and approval will not be granted until the end of the pay period, as you may be able to make up additional target hours by the end of the pay period. If, after giving a good-faith effort to meet target, the supervisor determines the missed target is directly attributed to the snow/ice event, they are authorized to approve severe weather hours for that period of missed work. In order to determine this approval, all notes for the entire pay period must be in the system by close of pay period (Saturday), no exceptions. Typically, staff has until 48 hours from the close of the shift to enter notes, for approval and payment of Severe Weather Hours, all notes for the pay period would need to be into the system by the close of the pay period. Severe weather hours will not be paid if the employee enters notes after the pay period deadline. If there is a separate timesheet approver other than the direct supervisor, the supervisor is required to communicate any severe weather hours coded and approved to the timesheet approver at the end of the pay period.
There will be a maximum of 16 severe weather hours available during this January – April for Full Time Direct Care Staff & Office-based clerical staff (AA’s, Accounting and Billing Assistants)
When entering severe weather hours indicate the number of hours on the timesheet and then from the dropdown box labeled “Earnings Code” chose SEV_WEATHER for your code (if you are a staff member who is required to code rate 2 hours, the code would be SEV_WEATHER2).
The minimum severe weather hour entry will be 2 hours/event. (Roads may not be impacted until later in the day, or conversely, a storm in the overnight may result in roads that are clear to drive on later in the morning.)
Entries can be coded in quarter hours increments from 2 hours to a maximum of 8 hours/event.
At the end of the pay period, all severe weather hours coded to the timesheet must be final approved by the employee’s timesheet supervisor with notation in the memo field for each entry listing.
Remember, staff is not allowed to drive clients during serious inclement weather. Your sessions/shifts will need to take place in the client/consumer/foster home if you determine it is safe to drive yourself.