Headquarter Location

The employee's headquarters location is the position's assigned office or work location at the university if:

• The employee works remotely less than 100% of the time;
• The employee works remotely 100% of the time voluntarily and not as a condition or expectation of their appointment;
• The employee is assigned to work remotely 100% of the time as a condition or expectation of employment AND their home or alternate work location is within 85 miles of the position's normally-assigned office or work location

An employee is only eligible for travel reimbursement to the position’s office or work location if their headquarters location is assigned as the alternate work location.

Please Note: We have employees whose assigned office or work location is outside of Madison, e.g. DHS location in Milwaukee or Fox Valley, or other UW Campuses. For those employees, their assigned office or work location is that location. Their business location in Workday should reflect this address. If there isn't a business code that accurately reflects this, then please add a Headquarter city that represents the building they work in. 

The employee's headquarters location is their home or alternate work location if the employee is assigned to work remotely 100% of the time as a condition or expectation of employment, and their home or alternate work location is greater than 85 miles of the position's normally-assigned office or work location. An alternate work location does not become the employee's headquarters unless it is determined to be in the best interest of the university.

SMPH HR must approve any remote work agreement that proposes changing an employee's headquarter location from the position's normally assigned office or work location. Please submit a request using the SMPH Request form for Alternative Headquarter Location.

For guidance on determining what an employee's headquarter location is, please use our Headquarter Location Determination Tool below or visit the SMPH Headquarter Location Determination Tool in Qualtrics.  For a more accessible experience, we recommend following the link to use this tool in Qualtrics.

To request an alternative headquarter location for an employee, please have the department administrator or unit leader complete a SMPH Request form for Alternative Headquarter Location.  

These requests may take up to 30 days to review. 

Per the Remote Work Policy, "An employee is only eligible for travel reimbursement to the position’s office or work location if their headquarters location is assigned as the alternate work location."

Below is the reimbursement guidance from our SMPH Fiscal Office:  

Partially Remote - Headquarter Location of Madison

• Travel to and from campus/headquarter location is not reimbursable
• No meal per diems
• No lodging
• Business travel should follow current policy

Partially Remote - Approved Alternative Headquarter Location

• Travel expenses to campus/Madison would be reimbursable
• Business travel should follow current policy

Fully Remote - Headquarter Location of Madison

• Travel to and from campus/headquarter location is not reimbursable
• No meal per diems
• No lodging
• If traveling for business and flying out of an airport outside of Wisconsin or more than 100 miles from the WI border, a flight comparison will be required
  • Flight comp should be from/to Dane County Regional Airport

Fully Remote - Approved Alternative Headquarter Location

• If traveling for work purposes, all expenses would be reimbursed
• Airfare comparisons wouldn’t be required – they should fly out of the closest airport
• All other travel expenses would be reimbursed according to current policy

Exceptions 

The Division of Business Services has retired the Exception Request for Business Travel form. This form was used for one-time exceptions to UW-Madison travel policy related to the remote work policy (released August 2024). It was intended as a short-term solution during the Workday transition. Forms submitted after November 18, 2025 will not be accepted. There are no longer any exceptions to the policy. 

Field Work generally refers to learning or work done outside the classroom, involving real-world observation, data collection, or hands-on application of academic concepts. The question regarding Field Work in the Flexible Work Arrangment will be removed and replaced by a Fieldworker designation on the Worker Profile.

Fieldworker Designation:

• Job requires presence at multiple locations
• At least 33% travel as a job requirement
• Work is performed "in the field," not from a single remote work location
• Not considered remote work under the policy, so no FWA is required
• "Fieldworker" designation must be added to the Worker Profile by the HRBP
• Field Worker Headquarter Location is designated as either Home or Assigned Office (at the Institution's discretion)