HR: 4155, p.1
HRD: 1124, p. 1
CSM Telecommuting Policy
Scope: This policy applies to all staff, full-time or part-time, exempt or non-exempt.
Purpose:
The purpose of this policy is to set forth the college’s philosophy and guidelines for telecommuting. The College of Southern Maryland considers telecommuting to be a viable work option that, when appropriately applied, addresses the business needs of the college, sustains the hiring and retention of a highly qualified workforce by enhancing work/life balance, and supports the college’s continued ability to operate effectively in accordance with its continuity of operations plan.
Definitions:
Telecommuting – Approved arrangement in which the employee performs all or some of their job responsibilities from home for part of their regular workweek.
“Regular or Recurring” Telecommuting – Approved schedule where the eligible employee works a maximum of one (1) day per week at home. Requests to telecommute more than one
(1) day per week must be approved by the President and based on the nature of the particular job responsibilities and the extent to which the ability to achieve the results of the college will be enhanced.
Regular Telecommuting does NOT include telecommuting approved for occasional or onetime telecommuting to work on special projects.
Policy: Telecommuting allows an employee the flexibility of working at home for part of their regular workweek. It is a work alternative that is appropriate for only some employees and positions. Telecommuting is not an entitlement; it requires specific approval; and, it in no way changes the employee’s terms and conditions of employment with CSM. Therefore, it will be approved on a case-by-case basis based on the responsibilities of the position, the performance of the employee and the need to be on campus to perform the work. Service to our students, the college and to our co-workers will continue to be paramount.
Telecommuting assignments are contingent on the supervisor, employee, and appropriate member of President’s Council entering into a formal telecommuting agreement. The supervisor and the appropriate Vice President must decide on the suitability of the employee and/or position for telecommuting with the final approval of the President.
The college retains the right to revoke telecommuting privileges at any time at its sole discretion if it believes that the arrangement is not satisfactory to the college, whether because

HR: 4155, p.2
HRD: 1124, p. 2 of an employee’s performance, the college’s needs, or any other reason. Telecommuting arrangements may also be terminated for any reason, at any time, by the employee.
Telecommuting requests that are denied, in whole or in part, are not grievable, but may be appealed to the next higher level of management whose decision on the matter will be final.
Eligibility Criteria:
Management’s first consideration in determining an employee’s eligibility will be the impact on CSM’s ability to conduct business.
Telecommuting requests will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Requests will only be approved where the following criteria are met:

Each request will be considered based on the following factors:

Nature of the responsibilities of the position and frequency requested

Level of the employee’s performance is at least satisfactory.

The employee has already demonstrated to his or her supervisor the ability to work without direct supervision.

The need for face-to-face interaction with customers and/or co-workers is minimal or can be reasonably accommodated.

Tasks are clearly defined and have measurable checkpoints with timeframes.

Tasks require concentration and/or large blocks of time when the employee works independently of others.

Results and productivity can be effectively measured with limited supervisory observation.

Employee received at least “satisfactory” overall rating on most recent performance appraisal immediately preceding the request to telecommute.

Employee must have a good attendance record.

Employee must have at least a “satisfactory” rating in the Accountability category in the most recent performance appraisal.
Positions suitable for a telecommuting arrangement may include the following elements: thinking and writing, policy development, research, analysis, report writing, computer oriented tasks such as programming, data entry and web development.
Positions not generally suitable for telecommuting involve tasks that are difficult to perform away from the college’s office and require employees to have daily face-to-face contact with supervisor, clients, colleagues or general public in order to perform their job effectively and positions determined by the college as essential personnel.

HR: 4155, p.3
HRD: 1124, p. 3
Expectations – Conditions
Continuation of the telecommuting arrangement is at the discretion of the supervisor and appropriate Vice President.
Employees working at home are expected to schedule work with interruptions kept to a minimum. Employees should always keep in mind that telecommuting is a job assignment and not a substitute for dependent care.
Employees are expected to maintain professionalism in terms of job responsibilities. The same current high standards of productivity, outcome of work products, and excellent service and public responsiveness are to be maintained by employees working in a telecommuting arrangement.
Employee work hours will be determined by the need for availability as management deems appropriate based on the job. The number of hours worked per day from the remote site will equal the number of hours worked per day in the primary work location.
Predetermined “core hours” for employee availability will be established and approved by the supervisor. Employees will report to the primary work location or other designated locations as required or requested for meetings, training, etc.
Under no circumstances will an outside business associate/vendor of CSM, a CSM employee or a CSM student visit the employee’s remote work site without prior written approval by the telecommuter’s director or more senior level position.
Each telework day, Employee must complete a report of activities, detailing the work performed. This report must be submitted to the supervisor upon Employee’s next work day.
Employee is required to maintain regular contact with the supervisor and office staff each telework day, be available to accept calls, return calls promptly, be accessible by email and notify the supervisor when leaving the remote work site during regular work hours.
Employee understands that failure to complete work assigned and/or failure to maintain the required contact with Employee’s supervisor and office staff may result in adverse action, and a decline in work performance may result in termination of the telecommuting agreement by the college.

HR: 4155, p.4
HRD: 1124, p. 4
Work Location
The employee’s primary work location is the CSM office where the employee reports on a regular basis. Employees participating in the program will maintain a dedicated work area at
CSM.
Remote Work Location Requirements
The employee will have a designated workspace with appropriate furniture and equipment in an environment conducive to work that will contain, at a minimum, a dedicated work surface, appropriate chair, adequate lighting, and a telephone. The voice line is not required to be a dedicated business line. The remote work site will be maintained in a clean and safe manner.
Participants will agree to allow management to schedule and conduct a remote office visit periodically as management deems necessary. The remote office visit will be conducted on a mutually agreed upon day and time and is limited to the stated business reason.
Equipment and Supplies
Other than software made available from the college through the Microsoft Work at Home program, the employee will be responsible for all costs related to procurement and maintenance of computer equipment hardware and software, printer, printer cartridges and their replacement, Internet service, and additional expenses incurred as a result of telecommuting (i.e., electrical, heating, etc.).
Reasonable long distance telephone charges incurred while telecommuting are reimbursable contingent on budget availability. The supervisor is responsible for determining what constitutes a “reasonable” long distance telephone charge.
The employee is responsible for ensuring that firewalls and anti-virus software comparable to that used at CSM is installed, regularly updated, and maintained on employee-owned equipment. ITS will make the determination of whether employee firewall and anti-virus software is comparable to that used at CSM.
During the time employee-owned equipment is being repaired, the employee will suspend telecommuting and return to the primary work location until the repairs are complete. The supervisor may approve exceptions where appropriate.

HR: 4155, p.5
HRD: 1124, p. 5
CSM will provide necessary incidental office supplies to support CSM work such as paper, pens and pencils, file folders, labels, and envelopes. Employees will not be reimbursed for office supplies needed while telecommuting unless purchase of those supplies was preapproved by management.
Employees who leave CSM are required to return all CSM supplies prior to their departure and will abide by management decisions regarding any CSM-owned data or information.
Liability
Worker’s compensation liability for job-related accidents will continue to exist for telecommuting employees. Worker's compensation will not apply to non-job related injuries that might occur in the home.
CSM suggests each participant contact his or her insurance agent concerning coverage for the remote office. Employees are solely responsible for decisions and costs associated with such coverage.
Tax implications related to the remote work site are the sole responsibility of the employee.
Security
Employees will use precautions to assure protection of CSM confidential information.
Viruses, hacking, phishing, or any other potential corruption or inadvertent disclosure of CSM files will be promptly (and in no event later than the next college business day) reported to the supervisor and to the Network Security Administrator.
Employees shall not maintain any confidential or legally protected information (including, but not limited to, information protected by FERPA, HIPAA or the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act) at a telecommuting site unless that information is protected from disclosure (e.g. by passwords or locks) to other persons who share that site.
Technical Support
Technical support for remote access will be provided through the ITS Help Desk during normal operating hours. Technical support will not be offered for employee-owned equipment.

HR: 4155, p.6
HRD: 1124, p. 6
Procedures/Responsibilities :
All telecommuting agreements will be approved by the appropriate Vice President and the
President on a case-by-case basis, focusing first on the business needs of the college.
Before engaging in any telecommuting arrangement, the employee must ensure that a three step process is completed. Failure to comply with this requirement may result in the termination of the telecommuting privileges and/or disciplinary action for the employee and/or supervisor. The purpose is to ensure the position and assignments justify the telecommuting request, for management to approve the request and for ITS to approve the remote working system with our network.
Step 1 (CSM Telecommuting Application
1.
Employee – complete this form where noted and either sign or digitally stamp. Once complete, submit it to your supervisor.
2.
Supervisor – Review employee section and complete the supervisor portion. If you find this request to be valid, sign the form and scan into Image Now. This will result in the completion of step one and the required remaining forms will be managed and documented within Image Now. Step 2 will be available to you immediately.
Step 2 (CSM Telecommuting Agreement)
3.
Supervisor – Review the agreement and establish a business flow between you and the employee in areas of work schedule, communication and assignments. Both supervisor and employee then digitally stamp the document in Image Now.
4.
Vice President/President – Review the submission and either approve or deny the request with your digital stamp. If the application requires corrections, please deny, note areas of concern and resubmit to the supervisor. If the application is approved, the Telecommuting Survey will be made available to employee.
5.
Associate Vice President – Review the submission and either approve or deny the request with his/her digital stamp in Image Now. If the application requires corrections, please deny, note areas of concern and resubmit to the supervisor.
Step 3 (CSM Telecommuting Survey)
6.
Employee – Review the form and complete the required information. You will be asked specifics about your remote computing environments so it may be necessary to print the form and complete at home. If so, resubmit the form to Image Now and digitally stamp once complete.
7.
ITS Director – Review the submission and either approve or deny the request with your digital stamp. If the application requires corrections, please deny, note areas of concern and resubmit to the employee.

HR: 4155, p.7
HRD: 1124, p. 7
8.
All application training, including the Information Security Basics and Advanced
Security Information Security training classes must be completed prior to beginning the program. Once the three steps are satisfied, the employee will be granted access to the Terminal Server and instructions will be forwarded.
9.
ITS – Reviews requests to determine appropriate hardware/software for each employee assignment; provides technical orientation to participants; provides support services through the ITS Help Desk; determines appropriate technical resources for support of program at each state; and conducts pilot study.
For more information contact: Assistant Director for Employment and Employee Relations,
301-934-2251, ext 4714
HRD: 03/01, 08/06, 7/08, 9/10