U. defines essential personnel, describes closing procedures

When a delayed opening or a campus closing is announced due to severe weather, essential personnel are often the only group of employees required to come to work.

The Office of Human Resources defines essential services employees generally as those who “perform jobs that are necessary and required to maintain basic University operations during scheduled closures or unscheduled suspension of normal operations due to emergencies, events, or other situations.”

The designation is not based on an employee’s department but generally includes workers in Building Services, Dining Services and a limited number of Frist Campus Center and University Library employees.

In the event of severe weather, the University might send an email by approximately 6 a.m.delaying opening for non-essential personnel or advising them to stay home for the day. By that time, many essential personnel will have already arrived on campus.

Non-essential personnel is often determined on a case-by-case basis, according to the University’s Office of Human Resources website. Administrators and faculty are often considered non-essential personnel, but there are no absolute standards.

Building Services janitor Ernest Brooks said that, even with snow, his early morning drive into campus is usually fine, as few other people are on the road at that time. When the University calls off non-essential personnel, it pays essential personnel for their travel time in addition to overtime, he added, noting employees are not penalized if the weather is so bad that they cannot report to work.

“[The University is] fair with us,” Brooks said.

Travel credentials provided by the University are meant to prevent essential personnel from being ticketed should they be pulled over during their commutes, Dining Services employee Heather Parker explained, as the work of keeping the grounds safe, students fed and libraries running must continue.

“The State of New Jersey and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania identify specific job functions that may be eligible for a travel restriction exemption,” University spokesperson Martin Mbugua said. “The University provides eligible essential services employees with appropriate travel documentation or credentials for use when they are required to report to work during a travel ban.”

The University provides essential personnel with meals in the dining halls and at Frist, Building Services janitor Ryan Rick-Wagner said. If they are needed overnight, the Frist Multipurpose Room and other spaces on campus can be transformed into impromptu bunk rooms with cots and blankets, he added.

On rare occasions, the University also puts up essential personnel in a local hotel, Parker said.