Use the following guidelines and principles as you contemplate your own work agreement and those of your team.
Staff and leaders alike need to understand the objectives, principles, guidelines and considerations of the hybrid work program. The information below is the basis for decision-making and the Hybrid Work Agreement.
After reviewing this information, staff who are interested in entering into a Hybrid Work Agreement are encouraged to speak with their supervisor or manager. Leaders will then consider the agreement of the individual as well as the team.
Hybrid work program
Objectives
The objectives of the hybrid work program are to:
- Attract and retain staff by creating a more flexible workplace environment.
- Positively impact student experience and outcomes through flexibility and the use of technology.
- Optimize service levels, work quality, and productivity through flexibility and the use of technology.
- Reduce carbon emissions through lower levels of commuting and strain on campus facilities.
- Catalyze collaboration between UBC and its partners through normalizing remote interactions.
- Promote and enable connections and balance across UBC campuses.
Principles
Decisions regarding hybrid work agreements must:
- Prioritize the physical and mental health of students, faculty, and staff.
- Promote the academic mission of the university, respecting faculty commitments to research, teaching, and service.
- Centre around student experience and outcomes.
- Respect and reflect the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
- Sustain or improve service levels, quality of work, and productivity.
- Protect culture, team dynamics, and the potential for creativity, innovation, and collaboration.
- Maintain the vibrancy of our campuses and learning sites.
- Optimize space utilization and consider financial sustainability.
- Uphold the autonomy of units and teams in determining their work agreements in alignment with the guidelines and other principles of the program.
- Support an institutional approach and consistency in application, maintaining agility to pivot if and as required.
Guidelines
- Staff wishing to participate in the hybrid work program must complete a Hybrid Work Agreement in Workday based on an understanding between the employee and the university.
- Staff who wish to participate must be employed as campus-based employees.
- Full-time remote work will not be considered at this stage of the program.
- UBC will provide appropriate equipment and furniture for an employee’s office at the UBC campus.
- Employees working from home are responsible for ensuring that they have the appropriate equipment and furniture to support working safely, productively and securely. This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring access to a secure internet line with the appropriate bandwidth (see UBC IT); a space that meets the concentration and privacy needs of the job (see UBC privacy matters); and the necessary equipment and furniture such as a desk, chair, computer monitor, external keyboard and mouse to work safely and efficiently.
- Employees are responsible for setting up their home office according to the Remote Work Home Office Ergonomics training.
- Deans, Vice-Presidents (VPs), and Associate Vice-Presidents (AVPs) are responsible for decisions made in respect of hybrid work for staff within their respective faculties, departments and units. These responsibilities may be delegated to supervisors.
- Where face-to-face interaction or physical presence is critical to the workplace experience, the Dean, VP, or AVP may decide that Hybrid Work Agreements are not suitable.
- Considerations informing determination of staff and unit work agreements include the need for or benefit from physical proximity to campus or others, in person collaboration, or access to specialized facilities, as well as the service and engagement expectations of others.
- Hybrid Work Agreements are approved on a case-by-case basis, and do not replace or eliminate the requirement for regular, in-person attendance. Staff approved for hybrid work understand they may be required to attend the workplace at any given time at their own expense.
- Hybrid Work Agreements can be an attraction and retention tool, especially in cases aligned with the principles of accessibility, equity, diversity, or inclusion.
- Hybrid Work Agreements can be reversed or amended, with appropriate notice and approvals, at the request of the employee or the university.
- Except as expressly agreed, hybrid work does not change the terms and conditions of employment as set out in the employment agreement, and those terms and conditions will continue to apply.
- Hybrid work does not apply to every position at the university as it is not suitable for certain roles or work performed. If some employees on a team are working in a hybrid agreement and others are not, it is important to consider the impact that will have on team dynamics.
- Where at least some team members are working in a hybrid agreement, consideration should be given to intentional scheduling and use of on-campus time to support productivity, collaboration, workplace experience, and safety.
- Managers should consider the work agreements of their team members when determining their own agreements to ensure appropriate on-campus support, engagement, and accessibility.
- Remote and on-campus work are subject to the same regulatory and statutory obligations. Work that would normally be performed on campus within British Columbia (BC) must continue to be performed at a location within the province. Work that would normally be performed outside of BC as a job requirement (such as research, field work, instruction, or study or administrative leave) is not subject to this restriction.
- The university will act in accordance with its collective agreements, working in partnership with AAPS and unions, and in accordance with the Human Rights Code.
- The university must be able to defend its decisions using the criteria arising from labour law: reasonable, operationally justified, not arbitrary, and not discriminatory.
Considerations
When determining whether an individual position or role is suitable for hybrid work, use the following questions as a guide:
- Do the operational requirements of the role require it to be on campus?
- Is this role required to be on campus to support the student experience, research, or scholarly activity?
- Does the role require or benefit from an on-campus presence to be completed?
- Does the role require close physical proximity to others to be completed?
- Does the role require or benefit from face-to-face interaction?
- Does the role need access to research facilities that require it to be onsite?
- Does the role require access to specialized on-campus facilities or equipment?
- Is this role required to be or benefit from being on campus to support culture, teamwork, and employee engagement?
- Is there physical space for the role to be done on-campus?
- Will a hybrid work agreement result in increased financial costs?
- Can the employee attest to the requirements for safe and secure hybrid work?
- Have the safety requirements per WorkSafeBC (WSBC) been implemented?
More information to support decision-making is available on the Hybrid Work for Leaders page.