This guide explains the steps managers should follow to review and approve Flexible Work Arrangement (FWA) requests from their direct reports.
What to Expect
- You’ll get a notification in Workday and an email when an employee submits an FWA request.
- You’ll be able to view the request details and the employee’s questionnaire responses.
Steps for Reviewing an Employee’s Questionnaire
1. Open the Task
Go to your Tasks Inbox in Workday and open the item labeled: “Review Request Flexible Work Arrangement: [Employee Name]”
2. Review the Request
Read through all questionnaire responses carefully.
3. Watch for Risk Flags
Some answers may trigger risk flags. These include:
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- Working from an international location
- Working internationally on a restricted fund (0133, 0142, 0143, 0144)
- Working internationally and not a U.S. citizen
- Using personal devices while handling restricted or sensitive data
- Using personal devices while handling protected health information (PHI)
If any of these apply, someone in the Flexible Work Arrangement Analyst (UW) role may contact you to pause approval.
Note: If the employee is requesting to work from another country, they should not complete the flexible work arrangement. Instead, they need to complete the International Remote Work Justification form.
4. Choose One of Four Actions
- Approve
- You’ll be prompted to answer:
- Is the employee expected to work fully remote?
- If yes, is travel reimbursement approved for trips between their home and campus?
- If no, type your name to confirm you understand they are not eligible for travel reimbursement under UWSA policy 1228.
- Click Submit.
- You’ll be prompted to answer:
- Deny
- Click Deny
- Enter the reason
- Click Submit
Note: Denying a request ends the process. It does not go back to the employee.
- Send Back
- Click Send Back
- Choose who to send it to and which step
- Enter the reason
- Click Submit
Note: This creates a new task for the employee to revise their request.
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Add Ad Hoc Approvers (Optional)
- You can add others to review the request before final approval.
- Options include:
- Management Chain
- Local HR Partner
- Supervisory HR Executive
- Local HR Executive
Steps for Reviewing an Employee’s Headquarter Location
1. Open the Task
Go to your Tasks Inbox in Workday and open the item labeled: “Designation of Headquarters City [Position] [Employee Name]”
2. Read Instructions
Designation of Headquarters City
It is the responsibility of the supervisor to designate the employee’s headquarters location. This is the official location (Tax Home, Official Station, etc.) where the employee’s work is performed on a permanent basis; this is typically the campus or institution office. The headquarters location is determined by the needs of the University and is assigned at the time of hire or upon entering into a flexible work arrangement.
Note: Employees who qualify as fieldworkers under the Remote Work Policy are not required to complete flexible work arrangements in the HR system. However, fieldworkers must have a headquarters location designated in the HR system. For fieldworkers, travel to the position’s home office or work location at the university may be reimbursable if it otherwise qualifies as reimbursable travel under UW-3015 University Sponsored Travel.
When determining if a flexible work arrangement impacts an employee’s headquarters location, the following rules apply:
- Hybrid-work arrangement: If an employee is in a hybrid flexible work arrangement, then the employee’s headquarters location is the position’s assigned office or work location at the university.
- Fully Remote Worker: The headquarters location of an employee who voluntarily works remotely, and not as a condition or expectation of the appointment, will be the position’s assigned office or work location. The work from home location does not become the employee’s headquarters location unless it is determined to be in the best interest of the university.
- Assigned Fully Remote Worker: The headquarters of an employee who is assigned to work from home or an alternate location, on a full-time basis, as a condition or expectation of employment, is the employee’s home or alternate location, unless the employee’s home or alternate location is within eighty-five (85) miles of the position’s normally assigned office or work location, in which case, the headquarters location is the position’s assigned office or work location at the university.
- Travel Reimbursement: An employee may not be reimbursed for travel from home or an alternate location to the position’s assigned office or work location unless the employee’s headquarters location is assigned to the home or alternate location.
- An institution’s human resources office must approve any flexible work arrangement that proposes changing an employee’s headquarters location from the position’s normally assigned office or work location.
3. Answer YES or NO to the question: Is the employee assigned fully remote as an expectation of their employment?
If answer YES:
- The Manager will type their name to confirm acknowledgement of the statement: I understand by selecting Yes to the previous question, this employee’s Work From Home location will be considered their headquarter location and they will be eligible to be reimbursed for traveling to their assigned campus location, based on the guidelines in UWSA policy 1228.
If answer NO:
- The Manager will type their name to confirm acknowledgement of the statement: I understand that this employee is not eligible to be reimbursed for travel to their assigned campus location, based on the guidelines in UWSA policy 1228.
4. Submit
Click Submit.