Weather Alerts and Information

We live and work in Maine where the local weather conditions can swing wildly even in a single day.

Inclement Weather/Declared Weather Emergencies

When a weather emergency has been declared in past years, employees designated as “essential” personnel on that day, were required to report to work and “non-essential” personnel were to remain at home. COVID-19 has led us to reevaluate work expectations during a weather emergency due to the large number of employees able to successfully work from home. Please review the following updated inclement weather procedures and information.

To the extent possible considering power outages, etc., benefits-eligible staff who are working remotely will continue to do so in a weather emergency. In addition, benefits-eligible staff and faculty who work on campus but can transition to working remotely, should do so during a weather emergency. Benefits-eligible staff who must be on campus to support campus operations (e.g., Security, Facilities, etc.) or to support students in residence (e.g., dining services) are considered essential and are expected to report to work during declared weather emergencies.

Staff who are essential should look for direction from their supervisor or manager to determine if their presence on campus will be required during any specific weather emergency. Designation of being essential or non-essential can change based on overall campus need, students being in residence or other circumstances at the direction of the College and supervisor.

If you are not able to perform your work from home, and a weather emergency is declared, you will be paid according to the current weather emergency policy.

Weather Emergency Declared

Communication

The senior vice president for finance and administration may declare a weather emergency in case of extreme weather conditions. Any decision related to the suspension of normal operations in which essential employees, as determined in advance by the College, are required to work will be communicated by campus wide communications including employee email, and or the App Armor system. The App Armor system will contact employee home or cell phones that are marked as home (primary) in Workday (starting at 5:00 am on regular work days). Information will >include delayed starts, early releases or office closings during which only certain departments are open. Outside of normal operating hours and on weekends this authority may be delegated to the director of facilities operations & maintenance, director of safety and security, and executive director of dining and campus services, in consultation with the vice president for human resources. Employees are expected to check College email for important communications.

Essential Employees

Employees whose positions are determined to be essential are notified of this status by their supervisor and whether they are expected to report to work if the College decides to alter working business hours or suspend normal operations due to a weather emergency.

Event Cancellations

If inclement weather makes it necessary to cancel or postpone an event, the event presenter or coordinator must notify:

Campus Scheduling Office (during regular business hours) ext. 3433; scheduling@bowdoin.edu.

During non-office hours: If a decision is made to cancel an evening or weekend event when the campus scheduler is unavailable, the event presenter or coordinator must contact each individual campus office providing services (AV, dining, security, facilities management).

To publicize to the campus or public that an event has been canceled or postponed, contact the Office of Communications, Doug Cook at dcook@bowdoin.edu; 207-725-3964

Payroll Guidance

Please refer to the weather emergency policy for additional details.

Benefits-eligible hourly staff may refer to the weather emergency flowchart for recording timesheet hours in Workday and reach out to Payroll with any questions.

If an employee (hourly or salaried) had previously requested vacation or sick time that happens to fall during a College-declared weather emergency, the time off should still be recorded as vacation or sick in Workday.

Extreme Warm Weather Conditions

The College has a few buildings and work areas that are not air-conditioned. During the summer season, when external temperatures above 85 degrees are coupled with high humidity, or when the local media issue hot weather alert warnings, managers should assess the conditions in their employees’ work environments and consider appropriate action with the approval of their department’s senior officer. Guidelines for managers:

Managers should recognize that heat and humidity may affect each employee differently. Consider appropriate actions including:

ensure opportunities for suitable breaks (e.g., increased frequency and/or duration of breaks)
ensure water and other suitable beverages are readily available
establish a periodic check-in schedule throughout the day to ensure employees are working safely
ask employees if they would be willing to work alternative schedules (e.g., arriving earlier in the day or leaving earlier in the day)
encourage employees to dress in cooler, appropriate casual dress.

Some of these spaces have computer hook-ups available, although individual departments will need to arrange for a laptop or PC to be set up, if required.

In extreme circumstances and after considering the previous alternatives, a manager, in consultation with his/her senior officer (or if the senior officer is not available, in consultation with the vice president of human resources) may dismiss the employee(s) early. Under this scenario, the employee(s) would be paid for the time they were regularly scheduled to work that day.

Employees should take precautions to work safely under warm weather conditions by following these guidelines:

Stay hydrated by taking frequent water breaks
Pace your work to prevent overheating, heat exhaustion, or heat stroke
Avail yourself of temporary, air-conditioned space if possible

If warm weather conditions become extreme, employees should approach their manager about their working conditions and ask the manager to consider intervention by taking actions listed under the Guidelines for Managers.