Employees of the University are encouraged to continue to develop skills by taking advantage of training through Human Resources, Information Technology, University credit and noncredit courses, and other resources. Courses taken should be to improve the competence of the employee in his position or required for the degree the employee is seeking.
Attendance at training and development programs and class attendance during work hours is to be approved by the immediate supervisor; time away from the office should not interfere with job responsibilities. The University will provide time away from the job to attend job-related training if required by the supervisor. The employee does not have to use his accrued time.
Employees who voluntarily attend classes can usually do so by either enrolling in sessions held outside the workday, or by obtaining advance approval from the supervisor to attend classes held during the work hours. Time away from the job to attend classes scheduled during work hours must be made up by either: a) using accrued time (vacation or compensatory time); or b) making up hours missed on an hour-for-hour basis, as scheduled by the supervisor.
These arrangements should be clearly understood by both the supervisor and the employee prior to enrollment.
Compensable Time for Training and Outside Meetings
Except for limited circumstances, time spent in training programs, lectures and meetings by non-exempt support staff must be counted as work time unless all of the following criteria are met:
- Attendance must be outside the employee's regular working hours;
- Attendance must be in fact voluntary;
- The employee must not do productive work while attending; and
- The program should not be directly related to the employee's present job. In other words, if the program helps the employee do his job better, rather than teach him a new job or new skill, the time is generally compensable.
Questions regarding the criteria or processing of time sheets should be directed to Human Resources.
Refer to Section C.11, Fee Waivers and Course Enrollments, for additional information.