From the first few members who have thus far completed the Flexible Work Arrangements follow up survey (Follow Up Survey On Flexible Work Arrangements – Union of Rutgers Administrators), only a handful were involved with completing the Departmental Needs Assessment and Team Agreement. It is important for our union to track whether this issue is widespread or limited.
In response to the question “What Flexible Work Arrangement changes or improvements would you like to see implemented?” several respondents offered thoughtful comments.
Unionized members of one department are investigating a proposed change to their schedules for next calendar year: “Our department has thoughtfully scheduled remote days to ensure at least one team member is in the office each day of the week…along with strong performance metrics and seamless virtual interactions…, I believe that maintaining two remote days would continue to support our productivity and flexibility.”
In another department, a higher-up supervisor has assumed more responsibility and is apparently inserting themselves into the process unnecessarily, in the opinion of our member. “Department heads who oversee individual departments should be the only ones reviewing and approving FWA schedules. It’s crucial that they understand their role and take responsibility for this task.”
It’s always nice to have good news about the program working, as one member wrote: “It works well for me because I have a great boss.” However, he pointed out that “messages from the university didn’t make it clear that flexible work is a collectively bargained right and that we weren’t asking permission to have a flexible work arrangement, that It was simply a formality when we were asked to ‘apply.’”
Has your experience been good, bad or in-between? Are there unanswered questions about the process or implementation? Has input you provided been considered and addressed? If you were denied an agreement, were you given a written rationale that made sense? Share your experiences, comments and any questions about process or status in the survey at Follow Up Survey On Flexible Work Arrangements – Union of Rutgers Administrators today.
We will continue to report back results and follow up action as we go along. Respondents must identify themselves in order to take the survey, but you can indicate whether your comments should be used publicly or not.
