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Flexible Work Arrangement FAQs

On this page:

• Flexibility Within the 4:1 Schedule
• New Hires and Role Changes
• Exceptions to the 4:1 Schedule
• Space Constraints and Workplace Logistics
• Accountability and Compliance
• Questions and Concerns

Flexibility Within the 4:1 Schedule

Who decides which 4 days are office days?

Supervisors in consultation with their college or department leadership should determine which 4 days will be in-office days for the staff on their team. Leadership may want to designate anchor days to ensure everyone is in office on the same day.

While Mondays and Fridays are popular for remote working, supervisors and leadership must ensure that adequate, in-person representation is available every day.

How does taking Paid Time Off (PTO) affect my weekly on-campus days?

The standard 4:1 hybrid posture requires spending 80% of your worked time on campus. If your workweek is shortened by PTO or a university holiday, you only need to be on campus for 80% of the remaining days you actually work that week, rounded to full days.

Because business needs vary, please check with your department and discuss your schedule with your supervisor.

How does the 4:1 posture impact flexibility regarding life events?

Supervisors should work with their team members to provide reasonable, temporary adjustments when they do not disrupt team operations. Some examples:

• Task or appointment coverage: Adjusting onsite days or switching remote days with a colleague so an employee can be home for home repairs (e.g., waiting for a plumber) or attend a medical appointment.
• Inclement weather: Working remotely when weather prevents safe travel to the office.
• Shift adjustments: Staff members can continue to request adjustments to their schedules to start earlier or work later within certain limitations detailed in the guidelines of the Flexible Working Hours Policy.
• Short-term remote arrangements: Supervisors can approve temporary remote work arrangements within the U.S. that do not exceed 30 total calendar days in one calendar year for the convenience of the employee. For example, a staff member is working while visiting family out of town; extreme road closures impact a commute temporarily. Note: This is not to be used to reduce an employee's weekly 4:1 schedule. See the Flexible Work Arrangement Guidelines for Staff [pdf] for more details on temporary remote work.

What should I do if I am sick on a scheduled on-campus day but well enough to work remotely?

First, thank you for helping keep our campus healthy. Please stay home if you are unwell or infectious.

In these situations, university guidelines allow you to request temporary remote work from your supervisor. Under the Flexible Work Arrangement guidelines, staff may use up to 30 days of temporary remote work per calendar year for circumstances like illness, provided:

• For continuous remote work: The limit is calculated as 30 consecutive calendar days (including weekends, which equates to approximately 22 business days).
• For occasional/intermittent remote days: The limit is tracked as up to 30 individual workdays spread throughout the year.
• Work requirements: Your duties and deliverables can be effectively completed remotely without creating an undue hardship on team operations or business needs.

Please notify and consult with your supervisor as early as possible to request a temporary remote arrangement.

How should supervisors manage schedules for staff returning from long-distance or international work travel?

Extended or long-distance business travel — especially across multiple time zones or involving weekend work — is physically demanding. While exempt employees do not accrue formal compensatory time off or overtime for travel on weekends or holidays, supervisors are strongly encouraged to offer schedule flexibility upon an employee's return.

Unless immediate, business-critical tasks require physical presence on campus, supervisors should consider approving 1 to 3 days of temporary remote work immediately following extended or long-distance university business travel, or adjusting daily start and end times. This flexibility supports recovery while allowing staff to keep up with core duties before returning to their standard on-campus routine.

What is the guidance around holding in-person versus virtual or hybrid meetings?

While in-person collaboration is strongly encouraged whenever possible, our physical campus footprint makes Zoom and hybrid formats a necessary part of daily operations. You are not expected to hold every meeting in person. Meeting hosts should select the format (in-person, virtual or hybrid) that best fits the meeting's goals, participant locations and scheduling logistics.

Is there a grace period or transition window to adjust personal arrangements (e.g., child care, elder care, commuting schedules)?

The university announced this update in June 2026 to provide several months of lead time before the 4:1 posture takes effect on Jan. 4, 2027. This extended timeframe allows ample opportunity to adjust personal, caregiving and commuting routines. If you need support during this transition period, we encourage you to use university resources such as the Employee Assistance Program and the Family Care Concierge.

What is "seasonal flexibility" and how will it work?

For eligible roles and subject to divisional leadership and supervisor approval, seasonal summer flexibility (3 days on-site and 2 days remote) runs from the Monday following Commencement through the Friday before fall classes begin.

Regardless of seasonal flexibility schedules, employees must work on campus whenever required by business needs or directed by their supervisor. Functional roles may have additional, temporary periods of seasonal flexibility based on critical business needs. These parameters will be provided to eligible staff members by college/division leadership when applicable.

Will salaries be adjusted to account for increased commuting, parking or child care costs with the updated in-office posture?

We hear your concerns regarding added commute times and logistical costs, and we recognize that balancing workplace expectations with personal logistics takes effort.

Salaries are structured based on the market value of the role, the position's responsibilities and other relevant factors, such as performance, rather than commuting distance or personal expenses. Hybrid/remote work was never intended as a substitute for dependent care, which remains a requirement regardless of work location.

However, we are committed to providing more flexibility than our pre-pandemic baseline through hybrid scheduling where eligible. To help ease this transition and offset costs, we encourage you to use available employee support resources:

• Transit Support: Free bus passes to assist with commuting and parking fees.

• Family Care: Access to the family care concierge, backup child care programs, etc.

• EAP Resources: Financial planning tools and confidential support services.

Our focus on increased in-office time is designed to strengthen collaboration, mentorship and community — outcomes we achieve best when working together in person.

New Hires and Role Changes

How do flexible work arrangements apply to new hires?

New hires enter under the standard 4:1 posture unless their role carries an approved Tier 1 exception or requires a higher on-site presence. Specific on-site expectations should be confirmed directly with the hiring supervisor. To ensure strong team integration and operational grounding, new employees must maintain the standard posture for their first 90 days before departments may consider requesting any potential, applicable Tier 2 non-standard hybrid exceptions. Supervisors also should be on-site with their new hires to ensure effective onboarding.

See the FWA Pre-Hire Request Form [docx] for details on the criteria for new hires.

What happens to an approved FWA if an employee transfers to a new role or gets a new supervisor?

FWAs are role-specific and tied to the agreement between an employee and their immediate supervisor. If an employee transfers to a new role or experiences a change in supervision, the existing arrangement does not automatically carry over; the employee must submit a new FWA request for approval by the new supervisor.

Exceptions to the 4:1 Schedule

How do I request an exception to the 4:1 posture for myself?

Individual employees cannot apply for an exception to the 4:1 hybrid posture based on personal preference. Exceptions are management-driven, based strictly on business and operational requirements. Supervisors and unit leadership evaluate positions for exception eligibility, and any proposed exception to the 4:1 posture requires a formal multi-step approval process.

Before a request can be submitted to the university-wide FWA Committee for approval, it must first be reviewed and supported by the unit's dean or vice president. If a dean or vice president determines that a department or role within their unit does not meet the strict operational criteria/burden of proof required to justify an exception, they will not forward that request to the FWA Committee.

The operational FWA exception process is separate from formal medical or religious accommodations. Staff members and supervisors may also explore flexible and compressed schedules to support flexibility within the 4:1 posture.

If you have specific operational or scheduling concerns regarding your current work routine, reach out to your supervisor or your area's HR business partner.

Can supervisors work remotely under a Tier 2 exception?

No. Supervisors holding performance-management responsibilities for staff, temporary employees or student workers are expected to model the standard 4:1 baseline posture. Supervisory exceptions under Tier 2 are rare and limited to extraordinary circumstances, such as managing a fully dispersed, multi-location team where co-location yields no operational benefit.

Where are out-of-state remote arrangements permitted?

To manage legal, regulatory, and tax compliance risks, CMU limits remote work to jurisdictions where the university is registered to do business and process payroll (AZ, CA, CO, DC, MD, MA, NJ, NY, OH, PA, TX, and VA). Remote work outside Pennsylvania, California, New York, Virginia, and D.C. receives heightened scrutiny, and requesting departments may be required to cover the associated compliance and legal costs.

Why were some remote workers granted exceptions while others were not?

Decisions regarding flexible work exceptions are governed by objective, data-informed criteria rather than individual preference, balancing operational needs, equity across equivalent positions and departmental capacity. The university's review process is guided by several core principles:

• Role Parity Across Job Families: To maintain institutional fairness, posture expectations are calibrated across equivalent functions university-wide rather than decided in isolation.
• Mandated On-Site Roles: Certain positions are central to daily university operations, team leadership, or in-person support and are required to uphold the 4:1 posture. These include administrative and executive assistants, Temporary Employment Services staff, supervisors and people managers, and new hires completing their initial onboarding period.
• Posture Adherence: Units that previously operated under a 3:2 schedule are expected to transition to the baseline 4:1 campus standard, establishing predictable shared presence across the university community.
• Structured Tiered Framework:
  • Tier 1 (Geographic/High Specialization): Reserved for rare operational necessities where specialized talent cannot be recruited locally (supported by 6–12 months of recruitment documentation) and where vacancy presents substantial risk to university operations.
  • Tier 2 (Local Non-Standard Hybrid): Permitted for local individual-contributor roles characterized by highly independent digital work with minimal daily dependency on student or physical campus interactions.
  • Tier 3 (Core Campus Operations): Roles with essential on-site affinity and collaboration needs align with the standard 4:1 baseline. Every exception requires multi-level leadership and FWA Committee review to maintain campus-wide equity.

Why is my flexible work arrangement changing or ending?

Flexible work arrangements are reviewed regularly and may be adjusted based on evolving business needs, team coverage or role expectations. While the university reserves the right to modify or end arrangements at any time, your supervisor will provide advance notice whenever possible to support your transition. If you have questions, please reach out to your supervisor or HR business partner.

What is the role of the FWA Committee and who are its members?

The FWA Committee is a specialized compliance and risk assessment panel. It provides centralized accountability and maintains university-wide equity for flexible work arrangement exception requests. Members include the provost, vice president and general counsel, chief investment officer, chief HR officer, assistant general counsel, assistant VP for HR, and senior director of International Finance.

The committee evaluates whether proposed flexible work exceptions are permissible under regulatory and legal constraints, such as multi-state tax liabilities, payroll compliance, labor laws, data security, and workers' compensation. To maintain neutrality, avoid conflicts of interest and apply objective criteria, no business units or academic colleges hold seats on the committee.

While business unit leadership determines operational fit and submits requests, the committee evaluates whether the arrangement meets legal and compliance requirements. The committee consults with unit leadership if it needs additional context.

Space Constraints and Workplace Logistics

Can physical space limitations on campus justify an FWA exception?

No. Physical space constraints do not serve as automatic justification for granting an FWA exception. Units experiencing space limitations should consult with Campus Design and Facility Development.

See the Space Principles and Departmental Space Self-Evaluation Checklist [docx] for information about optimizing your available space.

Given limited office space, will employees be expected to share offices, relocate, or rotate on-site days?

Yes. CMU is deploying modern workplace strategies, including coordinated team rotation and hoteling/shared spaces where appropriate. Departments are using the university's Space Principles and Space Self-Evaluation tools to ensure configurations support focused individual work, team collaboration and ergonomic comfort.

In areas facing physical space constraints, leadership has instituted a structured temporary exception framework. This creates a scheduled checkpoint to re-evaluate physical footprints, facility adaptations and team needs over time rather than granting open-ended remote arrangements.

Has CMU assessed whether sufficient desks, private meeting spaces, technology and other facilities will be available to accommodate returning employees?

Comprehensive space and technology evaluations are ongoing across colleges and divisions. Campus Design and Facility Development and Computing Services are collaborating with departmental leaders to assess footprint needs, enhance meeting room AV/Zoom capabilities and provide appropriate computing peripherals so staff have the necessary tools to work effectively and comfortably on site.

What is the benefit of requiring on-site work for employees based at off-campus locations who will continue conducting most meetings via Zoom?

Even in off-campus facilities (such as Bakery Square, PPG), in-person co-location strengthens team cohesion, spontaneous cross-functional problem-solving, onboarding and peer mentorship. While digital tools remain essential for connecting across distributed campus hubs, having team members share physical space reduces operational silos, reinforces shared culture and enriches collective productivity in ways virtual interaction alone cannot replicate.

Accountability and Compliance

How will the 4:1 requirement be monitored and enforced?

The university approaches flexible work through a culture of mutual trust, accountability and partnership between employees and their supervisors. The university maintains the authority to update work arrangements, and on-site expectations for many positions have changed since initial hire. Supervisors and departmental leaders serve as the primary coordinators of unit operations and work schedules. Compliance is centered on clear performance objectives, deliverables and transparent communication within each team. HR business partners are available to assist managers in applying these guidelines consistently, equitably and constructively across divisions.

What are the consequences if an employee does not comply?

If challenges arise regarding on-site presence, leadership's primary step is open dialogue between the staff member and their supervisor to understand the underlying obstacles and explore supportive resources, such as flexible start and end times, compressed schedules or the Employee Assistance Program. Continued misalignment with established operational requirements is addressed through standard university performance management and progressive discipline, with HR guidance to ensure fair and constructive resolution.

Questions and Concerns

Who do I speak to if I feel the 4:1 policy is being applied inconsistently across my department?

Open communication is essential as we transition to the 4:1 posture. If you notice inconsistencies or have concerns about fairness within your team or department, start by raising the topic with your supervisor or department head. If you need additional confidential support or advice, your HR business partner is available to help address concerns and ensure clear, consistent application of the guidelines.

Can I appeal my exception request outcome?

Decisions issued by the Flexible Work Arrangement (FWA) Committee represent the final institutional review. There is no formal appeal process for exception outcomes.

Because each request undergoes a comprehensive, multi-level evaluation — reviewed by divisional leadership, the Office of Human Resources and the FWA Committee against the university's objective tiered framework — these determinations ensure consistent and equitable standards across the campus community.

While formal exception decisions are final, employees are encouraged to collaborate with their supervisor and departmental HR business partner to explore other available flexibility options within the standard framework, such as flexible daily start/end times or compressed work schedules. Additionally, this operational process remains entirely separate from formal medical, disability or religious accommodations, which continue to be evaluated on an individual basis through Disability Services and Human Resources.