November 26, 2019
Workweek Scheduling
First off, I want to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving. Please enjoy your well-deserved holiday time and have fun with your family and friends.
One of the issues that came out of the information gathered at “Innovate!" was an expressed desire among our Extension colleagues, especially those who work in local units, to do something about work-life balance issues. Addressing work-life balance issues encompasses a lot, much of which differs from person to person, and, as such, is difficult to address through policy. For example, there are many times when I am lifting at night but thinking about work. That is a work-life balance issue that I must figure out and address on my own. A policy will not change that.
Policy can, however, influence how we can and cannot approach workweek scheduling. Different takes on what constitutes a workweek abound in our system. There are some who believe that since agents and specialists are salaried they have to work until the job is done. This belief is problematic. An Extension agent’s and specialist’s job is never truly done, and this type of approach means that projects and hours can be piled on. This adds stress to our agents and specialists as the additional work hours start to interfere with their personal lives. Additionally, the fact that our agents and specialists cannot receive additional compensation for those additional hours places our agent and specialist positions in a competitive disadvantage when compared to similar paying salaried positions with fewer hours.
We have a professional scheduling policy on campus for salaried personnel that says that we need to report leave when our time away reaches or goes beyond four hours. Many but not all local units follow this same policy. This policy affords us the ability to go to the doctor’s office or get a haircut without worrying too much about the lost work time. This policy unfortunately does not do anything to reconcile the time associated with the half or full day workshop that a salaried Extension professional hosted on a Saturday after a full workweek or the hours spent on evening workshops and activities after a full day on the job. Both types of professional obligations steal time away from our personal lives.
What constitutes a “suitable” workweek? There are some weeks – like the time leading up to and during a fair, when there is a position vacancy in our office or department, or the weeks spent responding to natural disasters – when I think we all have to agree that long hours are the norm. When we consider more “normal” work weeks, I harken back to the guidance two “seasoned” Extension professionals offer.
One states that most but not all complaints by stakeholders, supervisors or board members about perceived work hour and workweek issues are really complaints about productivity. If you are a highly productive Extension professional, there will be few complaints about the work hours you keep.
The second Extension professional’s guidance is oriented more towards the expectations regarding weekly work hours. She suggests that the minimum expectation is forty work hours per week. Second, she suggests that a salaried Extension professional should anticipate a forty to fifty hour workweek. Third, she advises that if you find yourself averaging more than 60 hours of work per week, you need to re-prioritize your programs and activities, sunset some, and delegate others to program assistants or trusted volunteers.
What is the perfect answer? I am not sure, but I do believe that we need to re-examine and rework our workweek scheduling policies. We need a policy that offers us the advantages of professional scheduling. We need a policy that recognizes and credits us from a time perspective for those hours worked beyond what is reasonably expected. We need a policy that makes our salaried positions more competitive from a time perspective with those of other salaried positions. Finally, we need one that is uniformly applied across our system so that all salaried Extension professionals receive the benefits of it.
I will be asking the Extension Administration Team and my agent and specialist advisory teams to help me in developing a new workweek scheduling policy. That policy draft will then be shared with the Joint Council of Extension Professionals for feedback. Next, it will be shared with the State Extension Advisory Council (SEAC) at their February meeting for feedback and support. Following their endorsement, the new workweek scheduling policy will be communicated to the system in late February or March through email, the Tuesday Letter, and our Board Leadership Newsletter. To further disseminate and reinforce the policy, it will also be presented and discussed at the spring Partnership Zoom Meeting.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!