UW - Madison Inclement Weather Guidelines

View printable version here: Inclement Weather Guidelines.

These policies appear online in the CPPP for classified staff and the UPPP for unclassified staff.  The statement below has been amended to include graduate assistants. 

Please remember that, while these guidelines are issued each year and tend to be thought of as the university's "ice and snow" policy, inclement weather can happen at any time of year (e.g., buildings with no air conditioning in the middle of summer).

The chancellor is responsible for determining if classes will be canceled or postponed or some university services suspended due to inclement weather. The chancellor’s decisions will be based on the safety and welfare of students, faculty and staff.

Colleges, schools and other campus units will not close on their own. For locations outside of Madison, deans and directors must receive authorization from the Office of the Chancellor before directing employees not to report to work or sending employees home. Some university services and functions must continue to operate regardless of weather conditions (e.g. University Housing, UW-Madison Police Department, power plant operations). University Communications staff will work with the chancellor to provide weather-related announcements to the campus and the media and post them on the University's website at http://www.wisc.edu.

Employees are expected to report to work unless directed otherwise. Each employee is advised to use discretion and caution regarding their health and safety. An employee who reasonably determines that it is not safe to travel will not be subject to discipline for being absent. Supervisors are expected to honor reasonable requests of employees to arrive late or to leave early because of inclement weather. Employees are expected 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 or personal holiday), 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.

The Office of State Employment Relations in 2011 changed the past practice that classified employees be paid if directed not to report or sent home.

Employees who are directed not to report or are sent home have the following options:

• Classified (Non-Exempt from overtime) -- Must use available annual leave (vacation, personal holiday), accrued compensatory time, 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 as much of the time as is necessary during the remainder of the workweek. With supervisor approval, an employee may also work at home or an alternate location during the inclement weather.
• Classified and Unclassified (Exempt from overtime) -- Must use available annual leave (vacation, personal holiday), leave without pay, or when appropriate, compensatory time to cover the absence. An employee and the employee’s supervisor may agree that the employee account for the absence in another manner consistent with the exempt nature of the employee’s position.
• Graduate Assistants (TAs and PAs) and other Instuctional Staff may use colleague coverage. If classes are postponed, instructors should make every effort to reschedule at a later date. TAs and PAs are allowed to use sick leave for family emergencies (e.g., when child's school or daycare facility is closed).
• Link to Campus Closure Q & A, 2009

CALS 12/19/2012