A job share is a work plan where one full time position is shared by two part-time 0.50 FTE regular staff performing the same duties with prorated salaries and time off accruals. A job share can be particularly desirable to employees because they benefit from the flexibility gained through part-time work, while departments are able to retain valuable and experienced employees.
Employees considering a job share should jointly develop a job share agreement to present to their manager(s) using this Job Share Plan and Agreement (MS Word) form. Managers should carefully evaluate a proposed job share agreement before approving it because it is intended to benefit employees while allowing departments to meet their business needs. A job share arrangement does not change the underlying conditions of employment with the University and may be ended by participating employee(s) or the department.
Employees and managers should consider the following items and incorporate best practices when proposing and considering a job share:
| Job share agreement component and questions to consider | Best practices |
|---|---|
| Attributes of participating employees: Do the employees work well together? Are their work styles, work ethic, and subject matter expertise complementary? | Employees do not have to have the same experience or time on the job, but should understand their own strengths and weaknesses and be able to support and be flexible with their job share partner. |
| Schedule: What will the weekly schedule be? How will employees participate in workgroup or department meetings and make sure there is coverage during absences? | Include scheduled time for direct communication each week. This will ensure job share partners can talk about their shared work and stay in sync. Supervisors must set clear expectations about whether both employees will attend required department activities even if occurring during a job share partner’s day off, or if one partner will provide an update for the other. |
When participating in a job share, overtime exempt employees are expected to accomplish their regular job duties even if this requires more than 20 hours of work per week or working on a different day than they are normally scheduled. Regular occurrences of work beyond 20 hours a week may be an indication that adjustments to the job share agreement are needed.
To initiate a job share, interested employees first discuss job share considerations and prepare a job share agreement for review by their manager(s). Once agreed to and approved by both employees and their manager(s), the job share agreement is retained in each employees’ personnel file. The FTE change process is then initiated by the Unit Initiator after employees have requested FTE changes, their managers has approved it, and work schedule changes are completed, as applicable, in Workday or Kronos.