Workshift Policy

Fall 2016 Workshift Policy (also available at  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OkdUjtNWcg2l8GXp5qYYKJ6hCs8W3RcdQqte0wRZzWY/edit?usp=sharing)

General Provisions

  1. Members shall owe 5 hours of Workshift in all weeks of the contract period, with the exception of move-in week (week 0) and finals week (week 17), where members owe 0.5 hours/day, living in the house. It is the member’s duty to contact Workshift Managers if they do not receive adequate hours to complete.
  • Permanent workshifts, including permanent Central Level workshifts, will be assigned by, and begin at the latest, the start of week 3 (Sunday, 8/28).
    1. Members with Disabilities: If a member requires accommodation to do their workshift, it is the member’s responsibility to make arrangements with the Workshift Managers. Filing proper documentation at the Central Level is necessary. All requests will be kept confidential. Accommodation cannot be granted retroactively, but can be granted during the process of filing for disability status.
    2. Permanent Workshifts and Availability: If a member fails to submit a preference form by the assigned deadline (Saturday 8/27/16 @11:59PM.), the Workshift Managers shall assign them shifts at their discretion. Members are responsible for the completion of their assigned shifts even if they are not compatible with their schedule. It is the member’s job to contact Workshift members about conflicts of schedule.
    3. Absence/Leave Policy: A member is eligible for workshift hour reduction if they are intending to be absent from the house for three or more consecutive days and notify the workshift manager three days in advance of their departure. The hours the member owes will be adjusted according to the table below. Workshift hour reduction cannot be granted retroactively.
Consecutive Days on Leave Hours of Workshift Reduced
7+ See Workshift Managers
6 4
5 3
4 2
3 1
1-2 0
  1. Paid Workshift: The workshift manager(s) may offer to the membership paid workshift opportunities, as they see fit. Compensation shall be the workshift rate set by Central office (currently, as of Fall 2016, $13.00 per hour).
    1. Members who wish to do paid workshift must be eligible to work in the U.S.
    2. Prior to receiving payment from C.O., member must file an I-9 tax form with C.O.
    3. Members may request workshift hours in lieu of monetary compensation.
    4. Members who carry a negative hour count are not eligible for monetary compensation.
    5. Workshift manager(s) may allocate paid workshift hours for use by other major managers as they see fit.
  2. Boarders: Boarders owe workshift according to the table below:
Boarder Type Hours of Workshift Owed
5-/7-night central level boarder 2
full central level boarder 3
5-night house level boarder 2
7-night house level boarder 2
half house level boarder 2
full house level boarder 3
  1. Member’s  Responsibilities
    1. Every member is responsible for completing their assigned or bought workshift and getting verification for the completion of the shift.
    2. Each new member is responsible for attending a Workshift Orientation (8/20/16 @12PM or 8/27/16 @12PM in the Dining Hall). Failure to attend will result in an additional hour of workshift, and last preference on permanent workshift assignments.
    3. If a member fails to complete an assigned shift, or fails to get verified, they shall receive “blown hours.” This means that the member is fined double the hour value of that shift.
    4. If a member cannot complete an assigned workshift, it is the responsibility of the member to ensure that the shift is covered. The Workshift Manager(s) will maintain a Workshift Market where shifts can be sold and bought.
      1. Down Hours and Blown Hours: You can get “down hours” for not doing a shift, which means you don’t get credited those hours and still owe them. You can get “blown hours” for not selling your shift early enough or for selling the same shift repeatedly. This means on top of the down hours you are penalized the amount of hours that were blown.
      2. Workshifters get penalized the rate of down hours and blown hours for all shifts that are not covered:
        1. House Level Workshifts: If posted on the workshift market at least 48 hours in advance, workshifter is protected from blown hours even if shift is not bought.
        2. A House Level Workshifter is only protected from blown hours up to 5 times for each assigned shift. The only way to avoid blown hours afterwards would be to ensure the shift is covered.
        3. Central Level Workshifts: Down hours and blown hours resulting from Central Level shifts shall be owed to Central Office. Any resulting fines from Central Level shifts will be passed onto the workshifter.
      3. Once a buyer buys a shift on the Workshift Market or via email, full responsibility for the shift is then immediately transferred from seller to buyer and the shift is considered covered for the seller.
    5. Personal No-Mess Policy: Personal messes in common spaces must always be cleaned or uncooperative fines may be levied. Specifically pots, appliances, dishes, utensils, and tools soiled by personal use must be WASHED and stored, not left for workshifters.
  2. Verification:
    1. Verifications must occur within 48 hours.
    2. If a member signs off another member for workshift that was not done, both members will receive double blown hours. For example, for a falsely verified 1 hour shift:
      1. The workshifter does not get their hour, and is blown 2 hours, totaling a balance of -3 hours
      2. The verifier is blown 2 hours, totaling a balance of -2 hours.
    3. Same penalty as above may apply if the workshift is done poorly. The Workshifter has the opportunity to complete the shift to the satisfaction of the Workshift Manager(s) to avoid blown hours.
    4. Any member has a right to refuse to verify any shift.
    5. If a member and the Workshift Manager(s) disagree about the hours owed, they may then appeal to council for workshift credit, or the removal of blown hours. The Council’s decision must be an absolute house majority and will be final.
    6. Communication with the Workshift Manager(s) about hour count must be held through email correspondence.
  3. Workshift Fines
    1. There are 3 fining dates. If you are down more than the buffer amount you will be fined for all the hours you are down. (Note: the first week of classes is Week 1.)
      1. Week 7, Sunday October 2, 11:59pm (2 hr Buffer) $13.00/down hour   
      2. Week 12, Sunday November 6, 11:59pm (2 hr Buffer) $13.00/down hour
      3. Week 18, Sunday December 18, 11:59pm (0 hr Buffer) $26.00/down hour
      4. Note:  Regardless of buffer dates listed, on your moveout date you will have a 0 hr buffer. Any down hours at moveout will be fined at $26/down hour.
    2. Receiving fines does not remove a member’s workshift debt. In addition to paying the fine, the member must still complete their owed hours or face additional fines for those down hours.
    3. Redemption Policy: If a member is up hours at the end of the contract period, the member’s “up” hours will be applied to previous down-hour fines.
    4. To overturn workshift fines, the member must win an absolute majority of the house population. If the house denies the appeal, the member may then appeal to AdCom.  However, the member must keep in mind that any workshift appeals to AdCom will require a preponderance of evidence from the member (as determined by the AdCom Screening Committee) in order to get a hearing. Disputes without evidence will be dismissed without a hearing.
  4. Habitability Audits
    1. All audits are subject to habitability task penalties based on the overall grade that is received for the audit. All those involved (house members) are penalized a habitability task according to the table below, including all managers (workshift manager included).
    2. Up to two penalizable Habitability Audits will occur during the semester
      1. Habitability audits are unofficial habitability inspections that will occur randomly and ideally before habitability inspections. Workshift Managers will arrange these with the participation of Central Office. These inspections are graded for the house as a whole and may happen without warning.
    3. If a penalty is levied, workshift managers will create the appropriate number of habitability tasks and offer them to members to mediate the penalty
    4. Each habitability task is not completed within 2 weeks, it will be converted into a workshift hour owed.
    5. A list of habitability task examples will be released by manager team each semester.
    6. All audits are graded by habitability standards and penalized as such:
Grade House Habitability Conditions Habitability Tasks Owed
A All areas overall clean, tidy, and organized. 0
B Some improvements could be made. No health/sanitation/safety issues related to cleaning. 0
C General cleanliness issues. 0
D Severe cleanliness violations. 1
F Health & safety hazards. Conditions that should never be present on the property. 1
  1. Workshift Termination
    1. Any member who is down 10 hours is required to attend a manager meeting as well as meet with the Workshift Manager(s) to discuss the issue and develop an action plan for making up hours in order to avoid termination proceedings.
    2. Any member who is down 15 or more workshift hours will be issued a conditional contract and the Workshift Manager(s) shall begin termination proceedings. If the member already has a conditional contract, termination proceedings shall begin.
    3. When a member is identified as exceeding the BSC down hour limit, the following shall occur:
      1. The Operations Assistant shall issue a 15-day notice of potential termination.
      2. They shall not receive their seniority point for that term.
      3. The member will be issued a conditional contract requiring that they get to 10 down hours or less within one week and prohibiting the member from falling behind 10 or more hours for the remainder of their BSC tenure.
      4. Failure to comply with the terms of the conditional contract shall result in immediate termination of BSC membership.

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