Flex Work Evaluation Criteria

Cornell’s core principles govern the use of flexible work at Cornell. The following evaluation criteria have been developed to support a consistent institutional approach to determining if, and to what degree, a position can support remote working.

Unit Mission & Priorities

• How does this position’s campus presence directly/indirectly support key unit goals?

Potential For Success

• Can the position responsibilities be successfully performed remotely?
• What supplies will the employee need and how will they be provided?
• What portion would need to be remote vs. onsite?
• If the position has some onsite responsibilities, do these need to be performed each day or can they be grouped together on certain days for some remote time? 

In-Person Interactions

• Does the position regularly require onsite interaction with students, faculty, staff, or other customers?
• Is an in-person presence needed to support a higher standard of service (e.g., although the employee may not regularly require onsite interaction, students, faculty and/or staff may occasionally stop by to ask a question or request a meeting)?
• Do some of the position’s customers prefer meeting remotely?
• If others also provide the support, can team members alternate onsite and remote support?
• Can the person work remotely during breaks when no students are on campus?

Physical Environment at Cornell

• Are the position responsibilities reliant on any aspect of Cornell’s physical environment? (e.g., maintaining equipment/facilities, using onsite equipment, working with physical files which cannot leave campus)
• Is there any flexibility in grouping the physical environment reliant work to certain days allowing for some flexible days?
• Can files be digitized to eventually support more flexibility?

Network/Security

• Does the position require network access or a level of security or privacy access that can only occur onsite?
• Can systems eventually be moved to cloud-based?
• Are there other remote security options that can be employed?
• Do these related responsibilities have to be performed every day or can there be flexibility in performing a certain number of days per week onsite?

Adverse Impacts

• Will supporting this request adversely impact coworkers, team culture, or collaboration?
• Are employees willing to cover onsite responsibilities for each other in exchange for remote worker taking on some of their other responsibilities?
• Will having a day or two a week where everyone is onsite help with culture and collaboration?
• Have you considered remote work downstream impacts on other departments?

Additional Expenses or Obstacles

• Are there financial impacts, such as travel or reimbursement costs and/or required reimbursements or other state/local compliance factors that will lead to additional expense to the unit?

Remote Location

• Does the employee’s remote work location allow for full functioning/participation in the job?
• Does the employee have a reliable and secure internet and phone connection?
• Is the remote location conducive to the work the person will be performing (e.g., quiet for meetings)?

Employee

• Has the employee demonstrated they are able to work independently with minimal oversight?
• Have expectations for this arrangement been discussed with the employee?
• Is the people leader comfortable monitoring productivity and ensuring deadlines are met remotely?
• Is the employee on a Performance Improvement Plan?
  • Can the employee create an environment at an approved alternative worksite (e.g., home) that will allow them to focus on work and minimize personal distractions?
  • What tools are available to help the employee manage their workload/deadlines?
  • Will remote work possibly help improve the employee’s performance?