Inclement Weather Policy

Let It Snow! Handling Employee Time Reporting During Inclement Weather Closures

As winter and snowy weather will soon be with us, HR provides the following information to clarify handling employee work and inclement weather compensation/overtime issues in the event of a WVU weather emergency closing. Please note that, per HR Policy #19, "a declaration of a weather emergency by the Governor does not automatically apply to WVU or its regional campuses...The President, working with public safety officials throughout the state, has the authority to close the entire institution, to declare geographic emergencies, and close branch campuses due to inclement weather or other emergency situations."

The hours of both non-exempt and exempt employees who work on days that WVU is officially closed are to be handled in accordance with HR Policy #19 found online at http://www.wvu.edu/~adminfin/policies/hr_policies/WVU-HR-19.html and at http://www.hr.wvu.edu/procedures/wvuhr19.cfm. For purposes of determining compensation for hours worked, please note that a "day" for weather or emergency closing spans the period of 12:01 a.m. through the following midnight. A workweek is the seven consecutive day period from Sunday at 12:01 a.m. through the following Saturday at midnight.

For employees required to work during the official closure:
Non-exempt (eligible for overtime compensation) employees will be compensated for work performed during an inclement weather closure through CTO, or pay at the rate of one and one-half for actual hours worked, in addition to regular pay (i.e., a fulltime non-exempt employee required to work 7.5 hours on an inclement weather closure day would receive his/her regular pay for 7.5 hours PLUS time-and-one-half pay OR CTO of 11.25 hours (7.5 X 1.5=11.25) for total compensation of 18.75 hours on that day. Important: Per HR Policy #19, "Inclement weather compensation is separate from overtime compensation. Both must be applied separately and appropriately." That is, employees who work on a snow or emergency closing day(s) are to be paid overtime or CTO as appropriate for said day(s), whether or not their work in the rest of the workweek is in excess of 40 hours.

Exempt (not eligible for overtime compensation) employees required to work during an inclement weather closure will be compensated with STO on an hour-for-hour basis, in addition to regular pay. STO must be used within six (6) months of being earned.

For employees not required to work during the weather closure, per HR Policy #19:
"Work time lost will be considered regular work time for pay purposes and will not require time be charged to accrued substitute time off (STO) [exempt employees], compensatory time off (CTO) [non-exempt employees], or annual leave, nor will there be a requirement that the time be made up."

HR reminds employees and supervisors that there must be a current written agreement between an employee and supervisor before a non-exempt employee may be granted Compensatory Time Off (CTO) in lieu of pay for extra hours worked in a work week.

HR has created a basic CTO agreement for employees and supervisors to use. It is available online at http://www.hr.wvu.edu/forms/CTOAgreement2004.doc or under Classification and Compensation forms.

Supervisors must approve offering CTO in lieu of pay. A CTO agreement may cover one work day or overtime incident, or it may be established for a set length of time. Revocations by either the employee or the supervisor must be done in writing, with a copy to the EBO and to HR. CTO must be used within twelve (12) months of being earned.

CTO/STO HR Policy #6 which addresses this issue is available online at http://www.wvu.edu/~adminfin/policies/hr_policies/WVU-HR-06.html.

Questions about STO/CTO and handling employee compensation for inclement weather closures may be directed to the Classification and Compensation unit of Human Resources at 304-293-5700, x. 6, or at classcomp-hr@mail.wvu.edu.