Policy 4.15

Chapter 4 - Human Resources

4.15 Enrollment in Courses During Work Hours

Minnesota West Community & Technical College encourages all employees to engage in life-long learning and career development. The following policy outlines the use of normal scheduled work hours for professional development and training purposes.

Section 1
If a supervisor requests that an employee enroll in a course to obtain job related skills, the employee may attend class on work time and be reimbursed for the tuition and materials of the course upon providing evidence of completion of the course requirements.

If the training is requested by the employee, and not specifically required by the supervisor, employees attending class shall do so on their own time, and shall pay all costs of the training (or utilize the tuition waiver benefit, if eligible).

If the course is scheduled during the employees work hours, the employee may request an adjustment to their work schedule. Enrollment during work hours is limited to one course per semester. Exceptions to this limitation may be made only at the discretion of the President of the College. Approval of a change in schedule is reviewed in light of the workload of the department, the impact on customer service and co-workers, and is not guaranteed. All such requests are approved at the discretion of the supervisor.

Procedure

  1. If an employee is interested in enrolling in a specific course that is scheduled during work hours, approval for a schedule change must be obtained from the supervisor. Employees will  layout a suggested schedule change to accommodate the class time.

  2. Limitation on adjusting schedules:
    1. The half hour lunch break may be included when adjusting start and stop times in order to make up the scheduled hours. For example, if an employee works 8 to 4:30, an hour long class could extend their adjusted stop time by only another half hour and still make up for the time away from the job (8 - 12 work, 12 - 1 = class, 1 - 5 work).
    2. Paid break times (15 minutes for each 4 hour shift) cannot be used in the calculation to extend the work day.

Responsibility for Implementation
 Supervisor or Administrator involved.


Approved by: Ron Wood, President
Date: July 1, 2003
History & Revision: