Can a supervisor mandate work arrangements for an entire unit or department?
It is in the supervisor’s interest to consider individual scheduling preferences and to make the best effort to respond to these, to avoid reduced productivity or the challenges and costs of turnover. However, a supervisor may change work schedules and arrangements to accommodate organizational needs. The staff member’s ability to end the arrangement distinguishes a flexible work option from a non-traditional work schedule implemented by the school/entity/department/unit to accommodate an organizational goal. For example, if the school/entity/department/unit determines the need for extended hours or weekend coverage and requires a staff member to change to different hours of work, this becomes a requirement of the job. If the staff member does not like the arrangement, he/she may not have the ability to convert the position back to the original schedule.
