Is this meant to be vague because we are covering so many different types of work? If it’s meant to be vague, can that be acknowledged?

Thank you for the comment. The policy statement (section 1) has been revised for clarification.

“Confused on the hours of work.”

Thank you for the comment.

Multiple comments with the suggestion to add language about requesting accommodations for ADA and include hyperlinks to the college’s ADA policies.

Thank you for the comment. A new section, 4.E., has been added to the procedures stating, “The Employee ADA Access and Reasonable Accommodations Policy outlines procedures for all college employees with disabilities who wish to request a reasonable accommodation to their work schedule.”

Suggestion to add language about requesting accommodations for religious reasons and link to any applicable policies.

Thank you for the comment. Currently, there are no official college-wide policies for religious accommodations. Employees should work with their supervisors to make scheduling adjustments for religious accommodations. Employees may also utilize the meditation space in the Student Center at the Jordan Campus.

See the whole human, and expect that our employees are doing their best. This is where we see the whole employee.

Thank you for the comment.

I think this policy should be reconsidered and determined by the department. Trust should be placed in supervisors’ abilities to make decisions for their departments.

Thank you for the comment. No revisions were made to the policy. Employees are encouraged to work with their supervisor to address concerns.

It seems that this policy does not align with the memorandum from Chris Martin, “Wellness Memo for SLCC full-time employees,” dated 9/18/2025. Shouldn’t the memo and this policy align?

Thank you for the comment. The “Wellness Memo for SLCC full-time employees” is an opportunity offered to full-time employees. This policy applies to all employees.

The policy draft universally applies scheduling and break rules (Sections 4.B, 4.C, and 4.D) to all employees, regardless of their FLSA classification. Suggestion to restructure the policy to differentiate expectations and procedures for non-exempt and exempt employees.

Thank you for the comment. Section 4.B. has been revised as follows: 4.B.6. states, “Non-exempt employees should adhere to assigned schedules and accurately record all hours worked,” and 4.B.7. states, “Exempt employees have flexibility within their schedule but are expected to adhere to the schedule recommended by the supervisor to meet the needs of the department.”

Suggestion to clarify that meal periods are generally unpaid.

Thank you for the comment. PWC will discuss this in further detail.

4.A.1& 2 – Multiple comments about clarifying standard college business hours versus college campus hours. Comments included questions about Saturday and Sunday hours for specific buildings and programs.

Thank you for the comment. 4.A.2 has been revised to state, “College campuses may be open different hours, such as 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., to better serve our students.”

4.B.1 – Technical suggestion: update references throughout the procedures to align with “appropriate supervisor.”

Thank you for the comment. The word “appropriate” has been removed from 4.B.1.

4.B.3 – Employees who do not work pre-assigned schedules should have a 7- or 14-day notice with a requirement that supervisors provide written notice in advance.

Thank you for the comment. 4.B.3 has been revised to specify that schedules must be “communicated in writing.”

4.B.3 – For pre-semester faculty scheduling, notice should be provided to faculty as soon as possible. There should be a firm date for the last day on which courses may be cancelled.

Thank you for the comment. The provost’s office is working to improve this situation for faculty.

4.B.4 – Requiring departments to have department rules about hours and scheduling specific to that department would be helpful.

Thank you for the comment. In response to your comment, section 4.B.4 has been revised to state that “departments may create scheduling and calling procedures to meet the department’s needs in collaboration with People and Workplace Culture.”

Suggestion to include definitions for non-exempt and exempt pay.

Thank you for the comment. Exempt Employee and Non-Exempt Employee are defined in the Personnel Definitions.

Suggestion to add definitions for lunch break, rest break, etc.

Thank you for your comment. No definitions were added to section 3. Lunch periods and rest breaks are explained in sections 4.D.2 and 4.D.3.

4.D.2 – Lunch breaks and part-time employees: suggestion to revise 4.D.2 language to mandate an unpaid meal break of at least 30 minutes for any employee working a shift of six (6) consecutive hours or longer.

Thank you for the comment. Supervisor approval is required to meet departmental needs.

4.D.2 - I agree lunches should not carry forward, though staff should be able to stagger their lunches if needed or not take one.

Thank you for the comment.

4.D.2.a – Can lunch breaks be used to allow me to attend classes if my supervisor approves?

Thank you for the comment. If you’ve discussed the situation with your supervisor and they’ve approved that your proposed schedule meets departmental needs, this should be fine.

4.D.2.d.(2) – Comments suggesting this section be clarified and potentially rephrased

Thank you for the comment. A new subsection has been added clarifying, “Non-exempt employee lunch periods must comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act.”

4.D.3 – There should be more clarification regarding “rest breaks” and also how they relate to (and can be used with) lunch breaks and restroom breaks. The policy does not clarify that breaks of 20 minutes or less must be compensated (FLSA).

Thank you for the comment. We use the term “rest breaks” to be consistent with applicable statutes. The procedures separate the lunch period and rest break subsections to clarify that they are distinct. As identified in subsection 4.D.3.b.(1), “Employees are entitled to one 15-minute rest break during each four hours they work in a day.” Restroom breaks are different and can be taken at other times, as appropriate.

4.D.5 – This section should be updated to comply with the federal PUMP Act, which exceeds the requirements of the Utah state statute mentioned.

Thank you for the comments. The PUMP Act and Utah’s Nursing Mothers in the Workplace statute are both listed in the references (section 2). Section 4.D.5 intentionally uses the terminology “generally provides” when referring to the Utah statute. The college policy does not repeat the state and federal requirements verbatim but does adhere to the legal requirements.

4.D.5.a – Should we provide reasonable breaks for up to 18 months?

Thank you for the comment. The policy states that the college will provide reasonable breaks for “at least 1 year,” consistent with the PUMP Act and Utah law. An employee can work with their supervisor to explore opportunities for reasonable breaks beyond the 1-year minimum.

4.D.5.d – Consider including a hyperlink to the map of the lactation spaces. Add language about requesting key access when needed.

Thank you for the comment. Section 4.D.5.e has been added, which hyperlinks to the college’s Lactation webpage. This webpage lists lactation space locations by campus. Also included is information on how to access the spaces.

Consider rewriting this section to include miscarriages.

Thank you for the comment. No revisions were made to the policy.

Clarify that breaks for nursing mothers are in addition to rest breaks and lunch periods.

Thank you for the comment. Section 4.D.5.c states, “When possible, these breaks shall be taken concurrently with other breaks provided to the employee.”

Some of these rules don’t make sense for 16-year-olds who are legally allowed to drop out of high school. Emancipations are also problematic.

Thank you for the comment. PWC will reach out to our legal department for guidance.

Suggestion to use “Employees 17 years of age and under” instead of “minors” to improve clarity.

Thank you for the comment. We use the term “minors” to align with Utah statutes and Administrative Rules. Utah Code section 34-23-103 states that “Minor” means an individual under 18 years old.

Suggestion to provide minors 15-minute breaks to align with breaks provided to other employees.

Thank you for the comment. Section 4.D.6.b has been revised to provide “15-minute” instead of “10-minute” breaks to minors 17 years of age and under when working.

When PWC policies are updated, should there be a standing update to talk through operations at Supervisor Guidance and a process manual? Or some other way to convey changes, perhaps on the originator’s website?

Thank you for the comment. As PWC’s communication strategy transitions in the coming months, more communications will be delivered via SLCC Today. PWC will keep these comments in mind as delivery strategies evolve.

During onboarding, what are we requiring supervisors to do? Policies should provide broad guidelines, but we need to improve training on intent.

Thank you for the comment. PWC will take this into consideration as we update and realign our Standard Operating Procedures.

Employment of Relatives: Who and how makes determinations of conflict of interest, and what are the parameters?

Thank you for your comment. The Employee of Relatives policy addresses these concerns. That policy is currently moving through the policy revision process. Your comment will be relayed to that review team.

I’m curious about lunch breaks and part-time employees. Aren’t there rules about requiring a lunch break or a 30-minute break (paid or unpaid) after a certain number of hours worked in a day? A part-time employee can’t be asked to work 8 hours without a lunch break, can they? (Some part time employees work eight hour days, but not every day of the week.)

2. The College is open from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and Saturday to serve students. - Are there standard business hours for Friday and Saturday? Is 7am -10pm for all campus locations?

I think this is something that should be reconsidered and should be determined by department. I have worked at other institutions where this was an option and I would like to see it here. Trust in supervisors to make the choices for their departments. I agree lunches should not carry forward though staff should be able to stagger their lunches if needed or not take one: Lunch periods may not be used for coming to work late or leaving work early. Lunch periods should be used during the workday intended and do not accumulate or carry forward.

At a quick glance, it seems that this policy does not align with the memorandum from Chris Martin, “Wellness Memo for SLCC full-time employees” dated 9/18/2025: “An example of release time could be:

• Starting work time 30-60 minutes later than the employee’s regular schedule
• Adding 30-60 minutes to the lunch break
• Leaving work 30-60 minutes earlier than the employee’s regular schedule...”

1. Policy Section: No Comments
2. Definitions:
3. Procedures:
   1. B: Scheduling of hours: maintain the appropriate supervisor every time that supervisor is listed
   2. B3: Employees who don’t work pre-assigned schedule should have 7- or 14-day notice and a requirement of supervisors to provide written notice in advance.
      1. For faculty scheduling pre-semester, provide as much notice as possible. Hard date: cancel classes of last day courses may be cancelled.
   3. A2: isn’t it just 7:00 – 10:00 Mon – Saturday? Saturday hours are different? What are they.
      1. What are the Sunday hours for certain programs? POST, nursing, Miller, etc.
   4. C: Absenteeism
      1. Add definitions for non-exempt, exempt pay
   5. Workday adjustments
      1. 2A: Lunch breaks not being used to leave or work early, with supervisor approval, can lunch break be used to allow for me to attend classes if supervisor approves
         1. Wellness time: wellness time needs to be scheduled, shouldn’t we include
      2. 2D2: Reads weird; relieved all work duties, intent is to be protected of non-exempt employee, enforces the lunch break… stop working. Supervisor just say that supervisors can’t force it. Give employee the flexibility
         1. Can we say 2d1 the same way, then 2d2: If an employee chooses, with supervisor approval… don’t want to be draconian
   6. Rest breaks
      1. Need to be more clear that these are in addition to lunch breaks, and that they can’t be all taken into one unless employee asks and approves.
         1. These are employee led – these are for the benefit of the employee, not for the supervisor
         2. As long as the 15 isn’t at the beginning or end of day
      2. Add clarity that these are not restroom breaks, and that those can be taken anytime. Make it clear cut. Add definition for lunch break, rest break, etc.
   7. When PWC policies are updated, should there be a standing update to talk through operations at Supervisor Guidance and process manual; a way to convey changes on originator website, or way to convey those changes.
      1. During onboarding process, what are we requiring supervisors to do during the operations of bringing a new staff member
      2. You can’t policy off bad-actors. Policy should give us the broad big guidelines, but we need to work to train on what the intent is.
   8. Confused on the hours of work:
4. Breaks for Working Mothers:
   1. 5A: We provide reasonable breaks for up to one year after the birth
      1. Should we be doing more than the minimum? 18 months, extend the “at least should remain at a minimum”
      2. Add a map of the lactation spaces
         1. Rewrite to include miscarriages
      3. One of the lactation rooms is currently being used as storage
      4. Add in language about requesting key access when needed
      5. In addition to the 15-minute breaks and lunch
5. Breaks for minors:
   1. Emancipations, high school drop out, some of these rules don’t make a lot of sense for 16 year olds who are legally allowed to drop out.
6. Add language about
   1. Language about requesting accommodations for ADA link policies
   2. Language about requesting accommodations for religious link policies
7. Overall policy comment: Is this meant to be vague because we are covering so many different types of work? If it’s meant to be vague, can that be acknowledged?
   1. Requiring departments to have department rules about hours and scheduling specific to that department would also be helpful.
   2. “employees 17 years of age and under…” instead of “minors…”

Employment of Relatives:

8. Who and how makes determinations of conflict of interest and what are the parameters.

Committee

A. See the whole human – as well as see and expect that our employees are doing the best. This is where we see the whole employee.

Executive Summary

The proposed policy provides a basic framework for operations but contains significant flaws that expose the College to risk and operational confusion. If implemented as written, the policy would likely create immediate conflicts regarding compensation, negatively impact the morale of professional staff, and fail to meet federal compliance standards.

The most critical issues identified are:

1. Failure to Distinguish Between Exempt and Non-Exempt Employees: The draft inappropriately applies rigid timekeeping and break rules to all employees, conflicting with the FLSA’s requirements for exempt staff.
2. Inconsistent Standard Workweek Calculation: The policy defines a standard workday and lunch period that mathematically results in a 38.75-hour workweek, creating confusion if a 40-hour week is the institutional standard.
3. Omission of Reasonable Accommodations: The policy lacks necessary language regarding schedule modifications for employees with disabilities or religious needs.
4. Inadequate Compliance and Clarity on Breaks: The policy requires updates to comply with the federal PUMP Act and needs clarification on compensation during breaks.

I recommend a revision of this policy prior to implementation.

Detailed Analysis and Recommendations

I. FLSA Compliance: The Distinction Between Exempt and Non-Exempt Employees

The most significant flaw in the draft is its universal application of scheduling and break rules (Sections 4.B, 4.C, and 4.D) to all employees, regardless of their FLSA classification.

• Non-Exempt (Hourly) Employees: Must have their time meticulously tracked and be compensated for all hours worked. Strict scheduling and break policies are necessary for these employees.
• Exempt (Salaried) Employees: Are paid a fixed salary to fulfill duties, regardless of the time required. While they must fulfill their responsibilities, they inherently require professional flexibility.

Treating exempt staff like hourly workers—by mandating specific break times or focusing strictly on “tardiness”—contradicts the professional autonomy expected in higher education and jeopardizes their exempt status under the FLSA’s “salary basis test.”

Recommendations:

The policy must be restructured to differentiate expectations and procedures:

1. Section 4.B (Scheduling): Create separate subsections for exempt and non-exempt employees.
   • Non-Exempt: Emphasize adherence to assigned schedules and accurate recording of all hours worked.
   • Exempt: Emphasize the expectation to work the hours necessary to fulfill responsibilities (which may exceed 40 hours/week), the need to be available during core business hours, and professional flexibility.
2. Section 4.C (Absenteeism and Tardiness):
   • Non-Exempt: Focus on punctuality and being ready to work at the start of the scheduled shift.
   • Exempt: Focus on professional responsibility and the proper reporting of absences using accrued leave (e.g., half-day or full-day increments).
3. Section 4.D (Workday Adjustments): Explicitly state that the detailed, rigid rules for Lunch Periods (4.D.2) and Rest Breaks (4.D.3) apply only to non-exempt employees. A separate, brief statement should be added confirming that exempt employees have the flexibility to manage their own breaks while ensuring responsibilities are met.

II. Critical Inconsistency: The Standard Workweek Calculation

There is a mathematical inconsistency regarding the standard workday.

• Section 4.A.1 defines standard hours as 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (8.5 total hours).
• Section 4.D.2.b defines the lunch period as 45 minutes.

Assuming the lunch period is unpaid, this results in a 38.75-hour workweek. If the College intends for full-time staff to work a 40-hour week, this discrepancy must be resolved.

Recommendations:

1. The College must clarify the intended standard workweek.
2. If a 40-hour week is intended, the College must either:
   • Reduce the standard lunch period (4.D.2.b) to 30 minutes, OR
   • Extend the standard business hours (4.A.1) (e.g., 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with a 60-minute lunch).
3. The policy must explicitly state that meal periods are generally unpaid.

III. Reasonable Accommodations (ADA and Title VII)

The policy is critically silent on accommodations for employees with disabilities or sincerely held religious beliefs who may require adjustments to schedules or break times (e.g., shorter, more frequent breaks for medical needs). This is a significant omission under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Title VII.

Recommendation:

Insert a new subsection at the beginning of Section 4.D (Workday Adjustments) to cross-reference the College’s formal accommodation process:

1. Reasonable Accommodations:

The College provides reasonable accommodations for qualified employees with disabilities in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and applicable state law, as well as accommodations for sincerely held religious beliefs, practices, or observances. Modifications to standard work schedules, lunch periods, or rest breaks may be approved as a reasonable accommodation. Employees seeking such modifications should contact People and Workplace Culture [or the designated ADA/EEO Coordinator] to engage in the interactive process.

(Subsequent sections in 4.D should be renumbered accordingly.)

IV. Compliance Review: Breaks and Specific Regulations

The following recommendations primarily apply to non-exempt employees, as discussed in Section I.

A. Lunch Periods (Section 4.D.2)

1. Part-Time Employees: The language in 4.D.2.c stating part-time employees “may be allowed” a lunch is inadequate.
   • Recommendation: Mandate an unpaid meal break of at least 30 minutes for any employee working a shift of six (6) consecutive hours or longer.
2. Working During Lunch (4.D.2.d): The language regarding remaining at a workstation must align precisely with FLSA standards. For a break to be unpaid, the employee must be completely relieved of duty.
   • Recommendation: Revise 4.D.2.d to state: “If a non-exempt employee is not completely relieved of all duties during their lunch break (e.g., they are required to monitor communications or perform any active or inactive duties), the entire break time must be counted as paid work time.”

B. Rest Breaks (Section 4.D.3)

Under the FLSA, breaks of 20 minutes or less must be compensated. The policy is silent on this.

• Recommendation: Modify 4.D.3.b to state that employees are entitled to one paid 15-minute rest break during each four hours worked.

C. Breaks for Nursing Mothers (PUMP Act Compliance) (Section 4.D.5)

This section must be updated to fully comply with the federal PUMP Act, which exceeds the requirements of the Utah state statute mentioned.

• Recommendation: Revise Section 4.D.5 to ensure:
  • Breaks are provided “as needed” for at least one year following the birth of the child.
  • Compensation is clarified: Time beyond standard paid rest breaks is generally unpaid for non-exempt employees, provided the employee is completely relieved of duty.
  • Space requirements meet the PUMP Act standard: A private space, other than a bathroom, shielded from view and free from intrusion, and functional for expressing milk (including a seat and flat surface).

D. Breaks for Minors (Section 4.D.6)

There is a conflict between the general provision of a 15-minute break (4.D.3.b) and the mention of a 10-minute break for minors (4.D.6.b).

• Recommendation: Harmonize the sections. Since the College provides 15 minutes, this satisfies the state minimum of 10 minutes. However, the policy must emphasize the specific Utah requirement that supervisors ensure minors do not work more than three consecutive hours without a break.

V. Clarification of Business Hours (Section 4.A)

In response to the stakeholder comment requesting clarification on hours, especially regarding weekends and different locations.

Recommendation:

Distinguish between administrative hours (when core offices are staffed) and operating hours (when facilities are open for students):

A. College Hours

1. Standard Administrative Business Hours: [Insert finalized hours, e.g., 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.], Monday through Friday.
2. College Operating Hours: The College generally maintains operating hours to serve students from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, and specified hours on Saturday. Operating hours may vary by campus location, department, and academic term.

Conclusion

Addressing these issues is essential to ensure legal compliance, fair treatment of all staff classifications, and clear operational guidance. I advise the Staff Senate to advocate for these revisions during the policy review process.