Snow Action Day declared, UW inclement weather guidelines for employees detailed

A Snow Action Day has been declared for the UW–Madison campus to help crews efficiently handle snow removal operations in the face of a major winter storm on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The designation allows crews to prioritize snow clearance on streets, parking areas and sidewalks. Please note that a Snow Action Day is an advisory and a call to action and does not mean that classes are cancelled or that the university has been closed.

Watch the university’s home page for more details and updates as the storm plays out.

Separately, the city of Madison has declared a snow emergency. That means that alternate-side parking restrictions will be in effect throughout the entire city, including the downtown/isthmus snow emergency zone.

For a state Department of Transportation map showing the winter driving conditions of major state thoroughfares, click here.

Also, here are the university’s inclement weather guidelines for employees:

The chancellor is responsible for determining if, for the safety and welfare of students and staff, classes will be postponed or some services suspended due to inclement weather. Some university services and functions must remain in operation regardless of weather conditions, e.g. University Housing, UW–Madison Police Department, power plant operations, etc.

University Communications staff will work with the chancellor and others to provide appropriate announcements to the media. Deans and directors should receive authorization from the office of the chancellor before directing employees not to report for work or sending employees home. Unless directed otherwise, employees are expected to report to work as scheduled. Each employee is expected to use discretion in determining if travel is safe. An employee who reasonably determines that travel would not be safe will not be subject to discipline for not reporting to work. Supervisors are expected to honor the reasonable requests of employees to arrive late or to leave early because of inclement weather. Employees are expected to make a reasonable effort to notify their supervisors if they cannot report to work or will report late.

Employees who are absent from work because of the inclement weather normally must use available annual leave (vacation), available holidays, leave without pay, or when appropriate, accrued compensatory time to cover the absence or must arrange with the supervisor to make up the time. Employees not exempt for overtime must account for each hour of scheduled duty. Employees exempt from overtime may account for their time in a manner consistent with their responsibilities, as approved by their supervisor.

If represented classified employees are directed not to report or are sent
home they will be treated in accordance with the terms of their respective collective bargaining agreements. (Note: At this time some collective bargaining agreements provide that the employee will be compensated as if the time were worked when the employer directs employees to leave work or not to report to work.)

All employees not covered by collective bargaining agreements who are
directed not to report or are sent home will normally be treated as follows:

• Classified (non-exempt from overtime) — may use available annual
  leave (vacation), accrued compensatory time, available holidays, or leave without pay to cover each hour absent. Non-exempt employees must account for each hour of employment. If an employee’s supervisor determines that the work unit can benefit from services provided by the employee at other than regularly scheduled times, the employee will be allowed to make up, during the remainder of the workweek, as much of the time as is beneficial to the work unit.
• Classified and unclassified (exempt from overtime) — may use
  available annual leave (vacation), available holidays, leave without pay or when appropriate, compensatory time to cover the absence.  An employee and the employee’s supervisor may agree that the employee may account for the time of the absences in another manner consistent with the exempt nature of the employee’s work assignment.