L&S Remote Work Policy
2025 Update: Remote Work Agreement Conversion to Workday
Remote Work Agreements (RWA) for fiscal year 2026 (July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026) will need to be completed in Workday (note: RWAs will be referred to as Flexible Work Arrangements in Workday). Future dated RWAs effective June 29, 2025, or later should not be submitted until Workday go-live, which is scheduled for July 7, 2025. Pre-approval spreadsheets for the upcoming summer months should continue to be submitted via the regular process as soon as possible.
RWAs for the current fiscal year (July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025) need to be submitted as soon as possible, and before June 14, 2025.
2024 Update: Remote work agreements must now be completed on / within a fiscal year basis (for example 7/1/24 - 6/30/25). All requests for remote work should be reviewed carefully and must be approved by the supervisor/department chair or director and the Dean's office. The operational needs of the department must be carefully considered in this review. The approval process can take anywhere from two to six weeks to complete. Please consider this time frame when submitting your request.
In August, campus added a Headquarter City Designation requirement to the Remote Work Agreement. Employees who are assigned to work elsewhere by the department need to complete a remote work agreement to designate the headquarters. This is intended to formalize the process for an employee to be eligible for expense reimbursement. This would apply to an employee who is assigned to work from home or an alternate work location by the department, on a full-time basis as a condition of employment. As such, an Assigned fully remote worker may be permitted reimbursement for travel from the remote work location to the position's assigned work location if approved by the supervisor and if the remote location is more than eight-five (85) miles from the position's assigned work location campus business location).
To designate an employee as Assigned fully remote via the remote work agreement, the department needs to secure dean’s approval if necessary per the L&S Remote Work KB and update HRS with the Headquarters city address; after HRS is updated have the employee submit an RWA and select Headquarter city as the Address type; the supervisor then designates Assigned fully remote and selects the Headquarter city when approving the RWA. This designation differs from a Fully remote worker since that is at the request of the employee and travel reimbursement is not permitted.
Additional Resources:
Is a Remote Work Agreement Needed?
The College of Letters & Sciences supports the use of appropriate flexible and remote work options for employees. To minimize confusion and align with university policy, understanding formal definition of the term “workplace flexibility” is important. Workplace flexibility refers to work that is performed at an off-campus worksite on a sporadic basis and that does not follow a regular, repeated schedule. A remote work agreement is not required for employees practicing workplace flexibility in consultation with their supervisor. Examples of workplace flexibility, provided supervisor approval is obtained, include:
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- working remotely for the remainder of a day after a doctor’s appointment for physical exam or a dental cleaning
- working from home while waiting for a furnace repair service professional
- an employee working remotely during severe weather (see UW–Madison Inclement Weather Policy)
- an employee working remotely for a month or less, within the United States
- Note: While not a "workplace flexibility” per se, per campus policy, Faculty and graduate assistants working remotely within Wisconsin do not require remote work approval or a remote work agreement in the RWA system.
Additional Resources:
- Campus Remote Work Website
- Campus Remote Work Policy
- Tipsheet - Requestor
- Tipsheet - Approver
- Work Modality Definitions
- If you have any questions about this policy, please contact your respective Associate Director / Manager.
- FA - Ben Weisse
- AS, LI, US, TE, STS - Sue Hook or Cheryl Bowes
- SA, SH, ET - Brenda Powles.
Request for Remote Work: Outside Wisconsin / International
Remote work outside Wisconsin:
An employee is not authorized to begin remote work outside Wisconsin (including internationally) until pre-approved by the Dean’s Office*, and a Remote Work Agreement (RWA) has been finalized. The employee should not start a remote work agreement request (RWA) in the online system, until pre-approval is received.
*New STS/student assistants are authorized to begin work after the Dean’s pre-approval is received and should complete the remote work agreement after the start of the new appointment.
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Working from a location outside the U.S. while traveling for a business reason (for example attending a conference) will likely follow the Travel Policy and not require remote work approval or a remote work agreement. Refer questions to the L&S Business Services Office.
Embargoed Countries:
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Remote work from countries which are “embargoed” by the U.S. is prohibited. A list of these countries is provided here: Export Control https://research.wisc.edu/integrity-and-other-requirements/export-control/, see “E:1/E:2 countries".
HOW TO REQUEST REMOTE WORK OUTSIDE WISCONSIN, OR INTERNATIONALLY
STEP 1: Department secures Dean’s Office pre-approval.
The department sends a completed Remote Work Request spreadsheet to humanresources@ls.wisc.edu. For new employees (or a current employee starting in a new appointment which will begin on the first day of the new appointment), this step should be completed prior to the employee’s start date. Department staff is responsible for completing the Remote Work Request spreadsheet, not the employee who is requesting the remote work.
- Remote Work Request - For Employee Classes: AS (STS), FA, LI, US, TE
- Remote Work Request - For SA, SH, ET
STEP 2: Department is notified of Dean’s Office approval/non-approval.
STEP 3: If approved, the Department verifies that the “Reports To” in HRS lists the correct Supervisor. (If this step is missed, the request will be routed to the wrong person).
STEP 4: Department instructs the employee to start a remote work agreement in the RWA system, noting which specific Position to connect the request to.
RWA’s should be started as soon as possible after the start date of the appointment** using these guides:
**Note – The online RWA system does not allow the employee to begin a request in the system until after the start date of the appointment.
RWA Approvals: RWAs are routed to the supervisor as first step approver , Dept Admin staff as second step approver; and L&S HR as final approver. Various campus offices will also review the RWA. The RWA has final approval only if all parties have approved it and concerns raised by campus offices have been resolved.
STEP 5: Employee receives email that RWA has been finalized.
Note to Departments: Please know that Foreign Nationals seeking to work remotely from an international location must provide the Office of Human Resources Payroll Office with documentation to ensure they are appropriately taxed when working outside the U.S., and to ensure that they receive the correct tax reporting documents at year end. Please encourage the employee to complete these steps as soon as possible after the start of the appointment. Refer them to the Foreign Source Income website for more information or to OHR Payroll with questions.
Request for Remote Work: Within Wisconsin
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Note: Per campus policy, Faculty and graduate assistants working remotely within Wisconsin do not require remote work approval or a remote work agreement in the RWA system.
HOW TO REQUEST REMOTE WORK WITHIN WISCONSIN
STEP 1: Department verifies that the “Reports To” in HRS lists the correct Supervisor. (If this step is missed, the request will be routed to the wrong person).
All employees (except Faculty and graduate assistants) working 100% remote must have dean’s office approval prior to completing a remote work agreement.
- Remote Work Request - For Employee Classes: AS (STS), LI, US, TE
- Remote Work Request - For SH, ET
All employees requesting an in-state hybrid work schedule need to submit a remote work agreement (RWA) in the online system as soon as possible after the start date of the appointment or before remote work has commenced*
*Note – The online RWA system does not allow the employee to begin a request until after the start date of the appointment.
The employee uses these guides when completing the RWA:
STEP 2: Employee receives email that RWA has been finalized.
Last updated 12/20/24