CPP Telecommuting Program

Staff in the following employee categories are eligible to request to telecommute:

• CSUEU (Units 2,5,7,9)

• APC (Unit 4)

• MPP (M80)

• Confidential (C99)

• Student Assistants

Telecommuting is not feasible for all positions or for all staff that fall within the employee groups mentioned above.

No. Telecommuting is optional and approved by the HEERA Manager, in consultation with the applicable divisional leadership, when they determine that telecommuting is operationally feasible and serves the department’s interest to ensure service excellence.

Yes. Staff who are authorized to telecommute must complete a Telecommuting Agreement, which includes the Telecommuter Work Schedule, the Telecommuting Work Performance Expectations, and the Telecommuter’s Home Safety Checklist.  Among the terms/conditions in the Telecommuting Agreement is the provision that staff approved to participate in the Telecommuting Program shall agree to comply with all the applicable policies and procedures of the CSU, the campus, and the employee’s department as if they were working on-site. For more information, see the Policy Checklist and University Resource Guide for Employees.

The telecommuting site workstation and supplies are the responsibility of the staff employee who is telecommuting. Any equipment, furniture, utility charge or internet access not provided by the campus is the responsibility of the staff to procure/arrange and at the staff’s sole expense. The campus will provide telecommuting staff with a laptop to ensure data security.

Staff who needs additional equipment or supplies to telecommute must discuss the request with their HEERA Manager. If additional equipment or supplies are deemed necessary by the HEERA Manager, the HEERA Manager may provide the necessary equipment or supplies, authorize the staff expenditure and subsequent reimbursement for the necessary equipment or supplies, or provide an alternate work location that has the necessary supplies and equipment such as a campus work location.

The HEERA Manager will establish the telecommuting start date. The HEERA Manager or staff may terminate the Telecommuting Agreement at any time for any reason upon twenty-one (21) calendar days’, or less by mutual agreement, written notice to the other party.

Staff are not able to use telecommuting as a reason to not attend an in-person obligation or complete work activities.  Participating staff will normally be provided 48 hours’ notice to return to campus for an on-site obligation except by mutual agreement or in case of unavoidable circumstances. The lack of a 48-hour notice does not excuse the employee from in-person attendance.

The staff is responsible for certifying their Telecommuting Site complies with the Telecommuter’s Home Safety Checklist. Staff are responsible for ensuring a clean, safe, and ergonomically sound home/off-site office as a condition of telecommuting. An initial on-site workplace hazards assessment of the home/off-site office may be deemed necessary. All conditions listed on the Telecommuter's Home Safety Checklist, which is made a part of the Telecommuting Agreement, must be met and confirmed, and are the sole responsibility of the staff. The staff should review this checklist with their HEERA Manager and must sign it prior to the start of telecommuting.

No. Staff shall only telecommute from within the State of California, unless specifically authorized by the President and permitted by CSU policy.  For questions regarding the Out-of-State Employment Policy, please contact hrpolicy@cpp.edu.

Staff should work with their HEERA Manager to update their position description to accurately reflect their current job responsibilities.

The HEERA Manager will determine the length of the Telecommuting Agreement based on the staff’s job responsibilities, staff work performance, and the operational needs of the department. The Telecommuting Agreement is not to exceed a one-year increment.

No. A condition of the Telecommuting Program is that staff have achieved at least a satisfactory work performance evaluation. 

Staff are expected to perform all their job responsibilities whether they work in-person on campus or at their telecommuting site, unless otherwise stated in their Telecommuting Agreement and approved by divisional leadership.

Staff may submit their written request to telecommute to their HEERA Manager via email.

The Telecommuting Agreement is initiated by the HEERA Manager through the electronic platform designed for staff use.  This is done after the HEERA Manager has discussed the feasibility of telecommuting, the work schedule, and the performance expectations with their staff. The Telecommuting Agreement is then routed through the electronic platform to the staff to complete. The finalized document is retained per the CSU records retention schedule.

Staff are required to be available and actively engaged in work activities during their assigned work schedule or as identified in an approved Alternate Work Schedule.  There may be exceptions made to the telecommuting work schedule when there is an obligation for on-site work due to a campus-related function or activity or in case of unavoidable circumstances.

Staff requests to telecommute due to a disability or medical reason are managed through the Reasonable Accommodation Process and not through the Telecommuting Program. Such requests should be immediately referred to the ADA Coordinator, Manuel Montilla, at (909) 869-4095 or ADACoordinator@cpp.edu, to begin the Reasonable Accommodation Process.

In consultation with their divisional leadership, the HEERA Manager determines if a position is eligible to telecommute based on job responsibilities, staff work performance, and department operational needs. The decision of the HEERA Manager to deny a staff's request to participate in telecommuting is not subject to appeal.

The Interim CSU Nondiscrimination Policy prohibits discrimination, harassment and retaliation based on a protected status. Staff and Student Assistants who feel they have experienced discrimination, harassment or retaliation based on a protected status may contact the Office of Equity and Compliance (OEC).

The Telecommuting Program is not intended to address illness or COVID-19 related requests for remote work. Staff participation in the Telecommuting Program does not automatically grant them the ability to telecommute or telecommute additional days due to illness or COVID-19-related reasons.

No. Telecommuting is not a substitute for childcare, dependent care, or medical care for yourself or an ill family member. Staff are required to make arrangements for childcare, dependent care, or medical care during their regularly scheduled workdays and work hours, whether they will be working in-person/on campus or telecommuting. Staff may use appropriate accrued leave credits if they are unavailable to work during their regularly scheduled workdays or work hours for reasons such as childcare, dependent care, or medical care.

Staff may contact the Office of Employee/Labor Relations & Compliance at elr@cpp.edu or (909) 869-3729.

Positions with responsibilities that can be conducted off-site using readily available campus technology and infrastructure at a telecommuting site without adversely impacting department service quality or organizational operations may be suitable for telecommuting.

In addition, to be determined suitable for telecommuting by the HEERA Manager, positions must be of a nature in which face-to-face interaction with members of the campus community is minimal or may be scheduled.

The participating staff must also be able to access the necessary programs, software, and technology to complete their job duties.

Requests for participation in the CPP Telecommuting Program may be denied for any of the following reasons:

• The staff’s job responsibilities are not able to be performed remotely

• Telecommuting would adversely impact the service quality or organizational operations

• The staff has less than satisfactory work performance

Requests may also be denied if telework will negatively impact colleagues or another department’s workload, workflow, or productivity by shifting burdens, creating delays, or adding steps in the workflow.

No. The HEERA Manager’s decision to deny staff’s request to telecommute is not subject to appeal.

• Job duties can be conducted outside of the campus worksite

• Telecommuting does not negatively affect the service quality or organizational operations

• Telecommuting does not add additional costs to the employer

• Telecommuting does not negatively impact team performance

Below is an illustrative, not exhaustive, list of characteristics of positions that do not lend themselves to telecommuting:

• Job duties require access to specific onsite files, or onsite specialized space/equipment/technology in order to effectively perform the job

• The position has regular in-person interactions, which became or will become less efficient or effective in a remote work environment

• Position’s job responsibilities require participation in onsite meetings or presentations

• A telecommuting arrangement would result in the duplication of office equipment or staff positions

• Staff’s telecommuting negatively impacts team performance

Some staff may be better prepared than others to manage the unique requirements of telecommuting. When evaluating a new telecommuting request or a request to extend an existing telecommuting agreement, HEERA Managers shall consider whether the staff has a rating of satisfactory or above, or its equivalent, on their most recent performance evaluation (if applicable) in all areas directly relevant to successful telecommuting. Employees with an overall rating below satisfactory, or its equivalent, on their most recent performance evaluation shall not be eligible to participate in the CPP Telecommuting Program. Additionally, HEERA Managers should consider whether the staff has demonstrated the ability to:

• Prioritize work to meet deadlines

• Display self-discipline and accomplish job duties with minimal supervision/direction

• Consistently follow CPP policies and team norms regardless of work location

• Understand their role and expectations

• Be organized, highly disciplined and self-motivated

• Communicate and coordinate effectively with clients, students, stakeholders, and their team members over phone, email, and Zoom/Teams

• Manage time effectively

• Meet work performance quality and/or productivity levels whether onsite or telecommuting

Before approving a telecommuting request, consider any changes needed to ensure your team continues to meet its objectives. Ensure the staff and work product will be as effectively managed as their on-site colleagues.

Additional consideration: Whether regular onsite meetings or in-person interactions prevent a telecommuting arrangement may depend on their frequency and the degree to which they are within the staff’s ability to schedule. For example, a consultant or a trainer may be able to schedule sessions for days they are onsite whereas an advisor whose students “drop in” for in-person meetings or a staff member who works at an in-person customer service window cannot.

HEERA Managers should meet with staff requesting to participate in the CPP Telecommuting Program to discuss eligibility requirements. Please see Telecommuting checklist for HEERA Managers under the Tools section above. Staff should be made aware of the reason their request is being denied: Specific job responsibilities that are not able to be performed remotely, the adverse impact to the service quality or organizational operations if their position worked remotely, or less than satisfactory work performance. HEERA Managers may contact the Office of Employee/Labor Relations at elr@cpp.edu for guidance and support in these situations.

You can access the position descriptions of your direct reports in JDXpert.  For questions, please contact Compensation & Classification.

To update a staff’s position description, please review the Compensation/Classification website for instructions and resources. We highly recommend becoming familiar with your staff’s classification and qualification standards, which can be found at the CSU Classification Standards page.

For consultations and questions regarding position description updates, please contact Compensation & Classification.

The staff is ineligible to telecommute for that day. They should be directed to use sick leave credits for the day they are scheduled to work on campus but are unable to because they are sick. If the staff frequently requests to telecommute on days they are scheduled to work on campus as a result of being sick, the HEERA Manager should contact the ADA Coordinator, Manuel Montilla, at (909) 869-4095 or by email at adacoordinator@cpp.edu for further guidance.

The telecommuting site workstation and supplies are the responsibility of the telecommuter. Any equipment, furniture, utility charge or internet access not provided by the campus is the responsibility of the staff to procure/arrange and at the staff’s sole expense. The campus will provide telecommuting staff with a laptop to ensure data security.

Staff who need additional equipment or supplies to telecommute must discuss the issue with their HEERA Manager. If additional equipment or supplies are deemed necessary by the HEERA Manager, upon Divisional approval, the HEERA Manager may provide the necessary equipment or supplies, authorize staff expenditures and reimbursement, or provide an alternate work location that has the necessary supplies and equipment, such as the on-campus work location.

If staff request furniture or IT equipment for their telecommuting site due to a disability or medical reason, they should be referred to the ADA Coordinator to begin the Reasonable Accommodation Process. The ADA Coordinator, Manuel Montilla, can be reached by telephone at (909) 869-4095 or by email at ADACoordinator@cpp.edu.

HEERA Managers should not inquire into a staff’s specific medical condition or background.

If a Telecommuting Agreement requires alteration, please meet with the staff as soon as possible to discuss the alteration. Before meeting with the staff, please consult with ELR (elr@cpp.edu) to ensure adherence to any other notice requirements that may apply, depending on the reasons that precipitated the change in the Telecommuting Agreement.

Academic Professional of California (APC) - Unit 4 staff must be provided seven (7) days’ notice before altering a Telecommuting Agreement, including changing the days that APC staff on a hybrid schedule are scheduled to work on campus.  

California State University Employees Union (CSUEU) – Although there is no similar seven (7) days’ notice requirement for changes in the Telecommuting Agreement of staff in Units 2, 5, 7 and 9, it is best practice to provide CSUEU staff with the same seven (7) days’ notice.

Also, if the change in a staff telecommuting agreement is due to changes in the staff position description or work schedule, then the applicable collective bargaining agreement should be consulted since advance notice of these other changes may be different from the seven (7) days’ notice required for a Telecommuting Agreement change.  

For example, CSUEU and APC staff must be advised of their position description updates seven (7) days in advance of the effective date. In comparison, CSUEU and APC staff must be provided with twenty-one (21) days’ advance notice of a permanent or summer work schedule change, or a change in their workdays or work hours.

On a separate matter, exceptions to the work schedule may be made ad-hoc when an employee’s on-site presence is required for a campus-related function or activity.

Similarly, when an employee is unable to perform work assignments at their telecommuting worksite due to equipment failure or other unforeseen circumstances, the employee may be assigned to a project and/or work location that may necessitate immediate/ad-hoc modification of their Telecommuting Agreement.

The HEERA Manager may terminate the CPP Telecommuting Agreement at any time for any reason upon 21 calendar days’, or less by mutual agreement, written notice to the participating staff. The participating staff may do the same.

There may be different types of telecommuting schedules. Managers are required to understand their divisional expectations and assess their department’s operational needs and those of the department’s stakeholders in advance of establishing a Telecommuting Agreement. The department needs to ensure it has in-person operational coverage during the department’s normal operating hours, and service excellence is maintained while staff telecommute.

Staff shall only telecommute from within the State of California unless specifically authorized by the President and permitted by CSU policy. For questions regarding the Out-of-State Employment Policy, please contact hrpolicy@cpp.edu.

HEERA Managers should ensure the department has established and communicated attendance reporting procedures to all staff regardless of work modality.

Any deviations from the established staff work schedule must be approved by the HEERA Manager in advance. To ensure mutual understanding in advance of issues, HEERA Managers are required to review telecommuting expectations with their staff before initiating the Telecommuting Agreement. Please see Telecommuting Checklist for HEERA Managers under the Tools section above. Ensure that you have provided regular feedback so staff have an opportunity to immediately address issues as they arise.

Staff work performance concerns should be immediately referred to the Office of Employee/Labor Relations (ELR) at elr@cpp.edu. ELR will work with the HEERA Manager in addressing work performance concerns.

Staff are expected to perform all their job responsibilities whether they work in-person on campus or at their telecommuting site, unless otherwise stated by their HEERA Manager in their Telecommuting Agreement and approved by divisional leadership.

HEERA Managers can end the Telecommuting Agreement at any time for any reason upon 21 calendar days’, or less by mutual agreement, written notice to the participating staff; however, that may not fully address work performance concerns.

To ensure mutual understanding in advance of issues, HEERA Managers are required to review telecommuting expectations with their staff before initiating the Telecommuting Agreement. Please see Telecommuting Checklist of HEERA Managers under the Tools section above. Ensure that you have provided regular feedback so staff have an opportunity to prompty address issues.

Staff work performance concerns should be immediately referred to the Office of Employee/Labor Relations (ELR) at elr@cpp.edu. ELR will work with the HEERA Manager in addressing work performance concerns and ending a Telecommuting Agreement.

The terms and conditions of the Telecommuting Program state that not every position is suitable for telecommuting and not all staff whose position can telecommute will be eligible to participate in the Telecommuting Program.

Therefore, to ensure equity in the CPP Telecommuting Program, it is essential that HEERA Managers consistently base their determinations of staff’s eligibility to telecommute on the CPP Telecommuting Program terms and conditions, operational feasibility assessments, a position’s ability to work remotely, and the staff's work performance. HEERA Managers should be transparent with staff on the determination of that specific staff’s telecommuting eligibility only. HEERA Managers should not discuss work performance concerns of one staff with another staff.

If a position is identified ineligible to participate in the CPP Telecommuting Program, the department can assess if an alternative work schedule is mutually beneficial such as 9/80 or 4/10 schedule.

Staff requests to telecommute due to a disability or a medical reason are managed through the reasonable accommodation process only and not through the Telecommuting Program. If a staff requests for telecommuting or additional telecommuting days due to a disability or medical reason, this request should be immediately referred to the ADA Coordinator, Manuel Montilla, at (909) 869-4095 or ADACoordinator@cpp.edu to begin the reasonable accommodation process.

Staff or their dependents, who have a medical condition that causes the staff to need time off from work either intermittently or long-term, may be eligible for Family Medical Leave (FMLA). Please immediately refer staff to the Leaves of Absence Coordinator at leaves@cpp.edu or (909) 869-6839, and to CPP's FMLA Website to obtain more information. 

HEERA Managers should not solicit medical information from their staff.

If the staff is ineligible to participate in the Telecommuting Program or does not have an approved Telecommuting Agreement on file at the time of the request, they should not be permitted to telecommute during their illness or isolation/quarantine period. The HEERA Manager should determine if the staff meet the eligibility requirements to participate in the CPP Telecommuting Program as part of their normal assessment process and not for illness or COVID-19 related reasons.

If the staff has an approved Telecommuting Agreement, they can be permitted to telecommute on the days that have been previously established as telecommuting days. Staff can be directed to use available sick leave and/or personal leave credits for the days they are unable to work in-person on campus and follow the appropriate attendance reporting/leave credit usage procedures.

Telecommuting is not a substitute for childcare, dependent care, or medical care for oneself or an ill family member.  Staff are required to make arrangements for childcare, dependent care, or medical care during their regularly scheduled workdays and work hours, whether they will be working in-person on campus or telecommuting. Staff may use the appropriate accrued leave credits if they are unavailable to work during their regularly scheduled workdays or work hours for reasons such as childcare, dependent care, or medical care.