Incident forms:
ITS – Service work Request (Coordinated through Sonya Butter)
The library will observe a year-round business casual dress. Staff should use good judgment and wear clothing that is appropriate for an employee's individual schedule for the day. For instance, meetings with vendors, customers, or other individuals may require a higher standard of dress in order to project a high level of professionalism.
Tops
Bottoms
Single Garment
Single garment attire should be no shorter than one inch above the knee
Shoes
Shoes should be based on the work being done.
Open toed shoes and sandals are not permitted for some work. All staff are responsible for bringing in a second set of shoes if wearing sandals or open toed shoes.
Head Coverings
Head coverings worn for religious and/or cultural purposes are acceptable. Other hats (caps, cowboy hats, etc.) and sunglasses are not to be worn while on duty in the library.
Body Piercings & Tattoos
Body piercings and tattoos are permitted
If requested by a supervisor due to the nature of the tattoo, you are expected to cover inappropriate tattoos.
If a body piercing can get caught on any type of library equipment, the piercing will need to be removed.
Student Workers
Purple Thursday & Casual Friday
Clothing considered acceptable for Purple Thursdays, Casual Fridays, days when classes are not in session, and during the summer semester, includes, but is not limited to:
Inappropriate Apparel
Exceptions: On occasion, there are special library projects where physical requirements necessitate relaxing these guidelines. Such projects include, but are not limited by, preparing bindery shipments,moving library materials and/or furnishings, or working in remote storage.
Requirements:
The 40-hour workweek extends from Monday through Sunday, as established by The Texas A&M University System regulation 31.01.09 “Overtime.”
Hours worked outside of the normal workweek by employees requires advance notification and must be approved by the immediate supervisor, Associate Director, and Dean of Libraries. Under some circumstances an Alternative Work Schedule may be approved by the immediate supervisor, Associate Director, and Dean of Libraries. An alternative work schedule must be renewed each academic year.
All vacation leave time taken must be approved through the appropriate supervisors, Associate Director(s) or the Dean of Libraries. Taking vacation leave without the supervisor’s prior approval could lead to disciplinary action.
Leave without pay is permitted only under emergency circumstances. These situations would include personal or family illness, a death in the family, or other circumstances that might fall under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
All variations in work time and leave described above must be reported to the Library Administrative office. In addition, you must record use of leave through the university’s “Workday” system on your first day back at work. If an employee is out for an extended period of time, leave can be posted by Employee Services with permission from the Dean of Libraries.
“Workday” reduces paperwork, but does not eliminate documentation requirements. You will still need to submit any other required documents, such as a physician’s statement or jury duty statement.
Guidelines:
I. Sick Leave
With the permission of your supervisor, brief periods (up to 2 hours) of sick time (i.e., appointments) may be made up. Such time must be made up within the same, prior, or following work day. If not, you must take leave time unless there are extenuating circumstances
and your supervisor and the Dean of Libraries approve the time to be made up at a later date.
All other sick leave must be reported to the Library Administrative Office as early as possible by emailing their supervisor and copying Library Administration or calling (254) 968-9246. You or your supervisor may leave a voice message if you call before 8 a.m. The Library Administration
Office will notify the Dean and supervisor as appropriate.
In compliance with the Texas A&M University System regulation 31.03.02 Sick Leave, “when an employee is absent from work for more than three continuous working days due to his or her or a family member’s medical condition, the employee must provide
the CEO or designee with a doctor’s certificate that indicates the cause or nature of the condition and the estimated recovery date, or other written statement of the facts concerning the condition that is acceptable.”
Physician’s statement must be provided to the Library Administrative office when you return to work. This statement will be forwarded to the Department of Employee Services in compliance of their documentation requirements.
In the event of an extended illness or injury, the employee should complete an FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act) request. Additional information can be obtained from Employee Services.
During special situations, such as COVID, Employee Services will provide additional guidelines and procedures as warranted.
II. Vacation
Unless it is an emergency situation, you must request approval in advance from your supervisor before taking vacation leave. According to the Texas A&M University System Regulation 31.03.01 Vacation “a supervisor may deny a request to use vacation leave if granting that leave would place an unreasonable burden on the employer's ability to provide services of acceptable quality and quantity during the time requested.”
In order to uniformly “provide services of acceptable quality and quantity” vacation leave during the long semesters should typically not exceed five (5) consecutive workdays. A request for more than five (5) consecutive workdays taken during the Fall or Spring semesters may be approved at the discretion of the supervisor and Dean provided that library services and work processes are not impaired. Approved vacation time should be reported as soon as possible to the Library Administrative office.
III. Bereavement Leave
Emergency paid leave is available for the death of a relative or for employees to attend the funeral of a friend. For Specific details on the number of days or hours available, as well as documentation requirements, see Tarleton SAP 31.03.03.T0.01 on Bereavement Leave. When using Bereavement Leave provide a link to the online obituary or a scanned funeral notice to the Library Administration and include the information in the comments section of your Workday leave submission.
IV. Other available leave time
A paid birthday leave may be taken on an annual basis as described in Tarleton’s Standard Administrative Procedure (SAP) 31.03.03.T1.02 “Birthday Leave”.
Wellness release time is available to eligible employees as described in Tarleton’s Standard Administrative Procedure (SAP) 31.99.99.T0.04 “Employee Wellness Program.”
Up to four (4) hours a month may be taken as volunteer time for recognized student organizations and campus initiatives following established Library guidelines and approval.
V. Flexible Work Schedules
According to System Regulation 33.06.01 Flexible Work Arrangements, A flexible work schedule permits an employee to work a predetermined and approved variation of the employee's standard work schedule. The minimum timeframe for a flexible schedule is two months. A nonexempt employee must maintain a 40-hour workweek. An employee who is exempt under the FLSA must maintain either a 40-hour workweek or an 80-hour schedule over two consecutive workweeks. A flexible schedule does not limit the hours that an exempt employee must work to complete the job requirements.
Flexible Work Schedules (flex-time) allow those with work duties outside a traditional 8am – 5pm work schedule to work an alternate schedule within a 40-hour workweek. This arrangement is not an accrual of time, but rather it is individualized start and end times with varied hours by day, maintaining consistency in the total number of hours worked. An employee who is exempt under the FLSA must maintain either a 40-hour workweek or an 80- hour schedule over two consecutive workweeks. A flexible schedule does not permit an employee to work a random, variation of hours each week. The “banking” of hours over a period of weeks is not permitted.
A. Library Flexible Schedules
When staff are scheduled to work the reference desk in the evenings Monday – Friday, they have the option of coming in late on the day of their evening shift; otherwise, must take those hours off during the same week as the evening work assignment.
When staff are scheduled to work weekend shift reference desk hours, the hours must be taken or adjusted during the two (2) weeks before or two (2) weeks after the weekend assignment.
When staff are required and approved to work additional hours during a regular work day, staff will adjust their schedule with a flexible work arrangement to maintain a 40- hour workweek within that same work week. Travel time to off-campus locations is counted as work time.
Flexible Work Schedule Arrangement examples:
Jane is scheduled to work the reference desk until 6pm, Monday nights. Jane can choose to arrive at work Monday morning 1 hour late and work 9am – 6pm or Jane may work Monday, 8am – 6pm and arrive the following day and work 8-4pm or 9am-5pm.
Tom’s work schedule is requiring him to put in a 10hr/day on Tuesday. He has an instruction session in the morning and a meeting all afternoon. Tom will flex (adjust) his schedule by only working 6hrs on Wednesday. Work from home or work performed beyond the 40-hour workweek without prior approval are not considered part of an alternate work schedule. These hours are considered contributions to the profession and are at the individual’s discretion.
B. Overtime
The Texas A&M University System Regulation 31.01.09 “Overtime” places the responsibility with the Associate Directors and the Dean of Libraries for controlling hours worked by an employee. An employee must maintain a 40-hour workweek. As a result, library staff may not exceed a 40-hour workweek, except in emergency situations as approved by the Associate Directors and Dean of Libraries.
Any approved overtime must be taken as straight time during the two (2) weeks before or the two (2) weeks following the overtime work assignment.
The Texas A&M University System Policies and Regulations are available online at http://www.tamus.edu/offices/policy/policies.
Requirements:
The Dean, Business Administrator, Library ADs and direct supervisors are responsible for inputting and maintaining the library calendars and leave.
Guidelines:
The ADs will be delegates for the supervisors in their departments in Workday. This will allow them to approve and view all leave related information for employees.
ADs will keep a calendar for their departments that include all requested and approved leave. This calendar will be reviewed and coordinated with the Administrative Leave calendar maintained by the Library Administration.
The Administrative Leave calendar will be the official leave documentation for the Library. The Dean, ADs, and Business Administrator will be responsible for updating and coordinating this calendar. The Business Administrator will be responsible for creating and maintaining a physical copy of this calendar to be kept for a five‐year period.
When approving leave, supervisors will be responsible for reviewing available leave and the department calendars to ensure appropriate availability of leave and scheduling for services before approving leave. The ADs will review the department leave calendar and administrative leave calendar to ensure appropriate scheduling for services. If there will be a dearth of personnel to run services, the ADs will inform the supervisor and deny the leave. The Dean will make final decisions in approving or denying leave for all personnel.
The Library will follow the Tarleton Inclement or Severe Weather Policy
Tarleton Libraries Inclement Policy
The Dick Smith Library in Stephenville has been deemed an essential service, and will strive to remain open for the Tarleton community as conditions and safety allows. The Rickett Library in Fort Worth will follow the guidelines set by Tarleton Fort Worth leadership.
Upon a code purple announcement, library administration will set hours of operation for the day, and make notifications of adjusted schedules for all affected libraries by:
Tarleton State University Inclement Weather Policy
Inclement Weather - Campus Closure
Inclement weather usually refers to severe or harsh weather that is cold and wet. Should weather or other conditions occur such that normal campus operations could be impeded, information will be provided to the appropriate local broadcast media, no later than 6:45 a.m.
Inclement weather announcements will be broadcast on:
For inclement weather conditions during normal working hours, the decision will be announced through regular administrative channels in addition to the five media noted above.
Faculty, staff, and students should assume normal operation of the University if media outlets make no announcements of campus closings or delays. Employees and students should use good judgment about driving to and from the campus when traveling conditions are hazardous.