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Currently, the system is only for staff and part-time employees. Academic employees are guided by policy ACA-83.

All remote work that takes place after July 31, 2021 is required to be requested and documented using the RWA System.

The system will collect basic information about your remote work arrangement, including:

• Remote work start and end date
• Whether or not you will be working from home
• The country and state you are working from
• Whether or not you are working fully remote or a hybrid of a remote and on-campus
• The expected start and end of core work hours
• The reason for the remote work request
• Your direct supervisor’s name

If your hybrid schedule has any floating days, when completing the RWA form, please select the floating option.

You should work with unit supervisors to determine the supervisor to list. Supervisors can add an adhoc approver when they approve the request.

RWA requests will route to supervisors and then to unit HR representatives for review before receiving final approval. Some units will require additional internal (ad hoc) routing between those two steps.

If the request is approved, the employee and supervisor will be notified via email.

If the request is disapproved, the supervisor and any optional ad hoc approvers will be notified via email.

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An RWA cannot be edited after submission. If you made an error, please contact your supervisor to have the request disapproved and then you will need to resubmit a new request.

Once a request is fully approved:

• The RWA page will show that the request has been approved.
• The employee will receive an email notifying them that the agreement has been approved.

If the request is disapproved at any point during the review process:

• The RWA page will show that the request was disapproved, along with the general disapproval reason.
• The employee will receive a system-generated acknowledgement email. It will contain a link to “View the route log of this document.” If additional comments were documented as part of the disapproval, they will be displayed on the route log’s “annotation” section.

At any time, an employee may view where their request is in the approval process using the following method:

1. In the RWA System, click “View submission.”
2. Record the document number listed in the “Review Information” section.
3. Launch the Document Search task at one.iu.edu.
4. Enter the document number recorded from the RWA System.
5. When the document is listed, at the far right, click “Route Log” to view status details.

Employees should work directly with their supervisor if they have any concerns about how long it is taking their request to flow through the review process.

Please discuss any concerns about denied requests with your supervisor. Your request may have been denied due to a departmental requirement or other issue. The grievance procedure should not be used to resolve remote work arrangement denials, as remote work arrangements are a special arrangement and not subject to the grievance procedure.

No, submitting an RWA will not update your information in HRMS or tax withholdings. Your unit needs to process an eDoc. To do so, contact your supervisor, payroll processor, or Human Resources representative.

If the employee or unit is making significant changes, the RWA should be updated in the system.

When your supervisor changes your existing RWA will automatically be inactivated. You should discuss your remote work arrangement with your new supervisor and a new RWA request should be submitted.

Per policy, RWAs are expected to be initially reviewed after 90 days then annually based on the most current approval date. However, a unit or supervisor may also review an RWA at any time to evaluate whether the arrangement is successfully meeting its operational needs or whether the remote arrangement is negatively affecting an employee’s performance. Any modifications to an RWA must be documented in the RWA System as soon as possible.

During a review of an RWA, supervisors are encouraged to discuss the RWA with their employee. The Performance at IU program has simple tools to help facilitate such discussions. Reviews should evaluate the effectiveness of the arrangement, ensuring it meets a unit’s operational needs and does not adversely affect an employee’s performance. 

Upon completion of a review:

• If no changes to the RWA are needed, no further action is required in the RWA System. 
• If changes to the RWA are needed, the employee should enter the RWA System, make any agreed-upon changes, and submit to their supervisor for approval.

Once an RWA has received final approval by the unit’s HR approver, the RWA System will send auto notifications to the employee’s supervisor and HR approver at 90 days from the approval date, and then annually based on the most current approval date, as long as the RWA is active. However, a unit or supervisor may also review an RWA at any time.

Yes, units and supervisors may review, modify, or terminate an RWA at any time. Any modifications to an RWA must be documented in the RWA System as soon as possible.

Effective August 1, 2021, the RWA replaces the telecommuting agreements for staff and part-time employees.