Oregon summers brings sunshine and increased outdoor activity, but they can also produce conditions that affect members of our campus. Severe heat and air quality conditions may result in public safety advisories that spur questions and concerns from employees and students.

The Office of Human Resources provides supervisors with guidance about working conditions during the summer when temperatures rise to ensure the safety and comfort of employees.

During extreme conditions, employees should communicate with supervisors regarding concerns about workspaces or assignments and use their best judgment to stay safe and comfortable. Safety sheets for avoiding heat stress offer helpful information.

The university typically maintains regular operations during heat advisories and periods of low air quality with no change to work or class schedules. Should a rare occasion disrupt regular operations, the standard procedures apply for weather-related notifications, such as cancellation, delayed start and early closure decisions. In an effort to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, adjustments, where possible, have been made to air handling systems to increase outside air in buildings. This may result in warmer temperatures than normal in these buildings.

As with other inclement weather events, employees who are unable to report to work because of the extreme weather may use accrued vacation, compensatory time, exchange time, personal leave or leave without pay to cover the missed work time, if applicable and approved to the extent approval is required. Use of accrued sick leave is appropriate only in the case of illness.

The HR website is the go-to resource for inclement summer weather or other environmental conditions at work.