As we have had two instances of Building Closure Leave this week, we wanted to send out a general reminder of how it works based on questions that we have received.
What is Building Closure Leave for?
When outside factors such as weather affect the ability of our employees to make it to their work locations safely, the division can announce building closures. To account for this time when buildings are closed, the employee’s timekeeper or supervisor must apply Building Closure Leave to ensure that the employee’s leave is not used to account for the missed time.
Do I apply the same amount of hours to everyone’s timecard?
Multiple factors can affect the answer to this question:
- If the announcement was for a full day of closure, yes, all employees get the leave that is equivalent to their schedule for that day.
- If the announcement was for a partial day of closure, no, employees will get leave applied based on their normal work schedule.
- Example: If an employee’s normal schedule is from 7:00 AM – 3:00 PM and the division has announced a closure at noon, the employee would only receive 3 hours of Building Closure Leave
- If the announcement was for a delayed start to the day, similarly to above, employees will only get leave based on their normal schedule.
- Example: If the division has announced a 2-hour delay and the employee starts their day when school begins, they should receive 2 hours of Building Closure. If the employee does not typically begin work until later in the day (10:00 AM), they would not receive any closure leave as it did not impact their normal work schedule.
- If the employee has a special arrangement with their school/department where they work only certain days of the week and the Building Closure falls on one of those work days, then Building Closure Leave should be applied to account for any hours that may be missed during their normal work schedule for that day.
Do all employees need Building Closure leave applied to their timecards if they were impacted?
No, only Non-Exempt employees need Building Closure leave applied. Exempt employees do not need Building Closure applied because they are paid a salaried amount that would not be impacted by a closure.
What if the employee had previously requested leave for a day when a Building Closure happens?
If the employee in question would have had their normal work schedule impacted by the closure (see above), then they should still have Building Closure Leave applied to their timecard, and the leave request should be altered.
Example: The employee requested 7.25 hours of Personal Leave (applies to Sick or Annual as well) on a day when schools opened 2 hours late and the employee typically works from the beginning of the school day, they should receive 2 hours of Building Closure Leave and have their Personal Leave hours changed to 5.25 hours.
What happens to a Long-Term Sub’s schedule on days with a Building Closure?
If the Building Closure was for a full day, then the timekeeper should remove that day from the employee’s timecard.
If the Building Closure was for a partial day, then leave their timecard as is. Long-Term Subs are treated like teachers and other Exempt employees when a partial day closure occurs.
If you would like to review the full School Board policy regarding school closures due to weather and/or emergencies, you can find that information here: GCQC and GCJ (page 9 & 10).