UW Inclement Weather Policy

When inclement weather causes transportation problems or locally hazardous conditions, employees are expected to give first consideration to their personal safety in evaluating their ability to commute to work. While the most common reason for the disruption of campus operations is weather-related, other emergency situations or outages could trigger a suspension of non-essential operations.

UW Information Lines

These telephone lines provide up to the minute information about the three University of Washington campus operations during emergencies or severe weather conditions:
206-UWS-INFO (206-897-4636) and toll-free 1-866-897-4636.
These numbers and the University’s policies on Inclement Weather and Suspended Operations are located on the HR Website. Information about campus operations during emergencies or severe weather conditions may also appear on the University’s UWIN website. The University’s Inclement Weather Policy provides that supervisors may approve employee requests for time off when weather conditions prevent employees from working as scheduled. Such time is charged to vacation leave, personal holiday, accrued compensatory time or leave without pay in accordance with the provisions of the applicable collective bargaining agreement or employment program.

RC & Inclement Weather

Within the programs, procedures for students are as follows.

Transition School: The closure and delay schedule are determined firstly by the student’s school district, then the Seattle School District if their home district is not affected. Do not refer to the University of Washington’s operational schedule.

Saturday Program: Conditions for closure and/or delays will be determined by 7AM the morning of the Program. The Program Director will email all families and post on both the RC website and FB page by 8AM.

Early Entrance Program/ UW Academy: Students will follow the University of Washington’s operational schedule. Refer to the UW Information Line or its main website for operational information.

Inclement Weather Leave Use

At the Robinson Center, it is expected that all employee absence due to inclement weather must be reported to the Administrator prior to missing the shift. Leave taken due to inclement weather is charged to vacation leave, personal holiday, accrued compensatory time, or leave without pay according to your job’s collective bargaining agreement or employment program. Please refer to your classification below:

Overtime-Eligible Classified Non-Union, Contract Classified and Professional Staff
Partial and full day absences due to inclement weather are charged to...

  • Vacation leave,
  • Personal holiday (full day absence only),
  • Accrued compensatory time, or
  • Leave without pay.

Overtime-Exempt Classified Non-Union and Contract Classified Staff
Full-day absences due to inclement weather are charged to...

  • Vacation leave,
  • Personal holiday (full day absence only),
  • Accrued compensatory time, or
  • Leave without pay.

Part-day absences due to inclement weather are charged to...

  • Vacation leave,
  • Accrued compensatory time

NOTE: If an overtime-exempt employee does not have paid leave available, the employee may not be placed on leave without pay for part-day absences.

Overtime-exempt Professional Staff
Overtime-exempt professional staff are responsible for ensuring that all work obligations are met. Full day absences due to inclement weather may be charged to leave, or the individual's work schedule may be flexed with the supervisor's concurrence. At the supervisor's discretion, leave does not have to be charged for approved partial day absences.