About . Employee Handbook . Employment
We strive to keep accurate and current information concerning all employees. To this end, you should update your information in the event of changes such as new mailing addresses, telephone numbers, beneficiary changes, number and names of dependents, individuals to be contacted in case of emergency, educational accomplishments, etc. If you have any questions, please consult with Human Resources.
Employees are welcome to review their own personnel file in the Human Resources Office by appointment; however, the personnel file is the property of the College and may not be copied or taken upon leaving employment.
Requests for verification of employment information of current and former employees of the College should be directed to Human Resources. It is the College’s policy to verify only job title and dates of employment. Salary information is only verified with the employee’s written authorization and signature.
Employees are directed not to respond to requests for employment verifications. Any employee who receives a request should direct the caller or forward the written request to Human Resources.
Consistent with the laws in the state of Ohio, your employment with Cleveland Institute of Art is “at will.” Your employment can be terminated by you or by Cleveland Institute of Art with or without cause and with or without notice, at any time, and at the option of either you or Cleveland Institute of Art except as otherwise provided by law.
Nothing in this employee handbook is intended to or creates an employment agreement, express or implied. Nothing contained in this or any other document provided to the employee is intended to be, nor should it be, construed as a contract that employment or any benefit will be continued for any period of time. No manager or employee of the College has the authority to enter into any agreement for employment for any specified period of time, to make any agreement for employment other than at-will, or to limit or modify any employee’s at-will status. Only the President or Vice President of Human Resources has the authority to make any such agreement and then, only in a formal written agreement.
Any salary figures provided to an employee in annual or monthly terms are stated for the sake of convenience or to facilitate comparisons and are not intended and do not create an employment contract for any specific period of time.
Nothing in this statement is intended to interfere with, restrain, or prevent concerted activity as protected by the National Labor Relations Act. Such activity includes employee communications regarding wages, hours, or other terms or conditions of employment. CIA employees have the right to engage in or refrain from such activities.
The Orientation Period is used to determine if a new employee’s performance successfully meets the expectations of the role and if continued employment is warranted. The Orientation Period shall consist of the first ninety (90) days of employment (including transfer or promotion within the organization). During this time, the employee’s supervisor will work with them to establish clearly defined performance goals; educate about the competencies of the position; provide the employee with positive feedback regarding strengths and progress, share constructive feedback in reference to any deficiencies observed; and assess whether the employee’s performance meets the expectations of the position.
If deficiencies are identified during the Orientation Period, the supervisor will provide an opportunity for the employee to improve performance, demonstrate competencies, and/or achieve stated goals. If deficiencies are significant or persist throughout the Orientation Period and appear to compromise the employee’s ability to successfully perform the job further action may be taken including termination of employment or extension of the Orientation Period. A decision to pursue termination of employment or extension of the Orientation Period must be made in consultation with Human Resources.
At various times during the Orientation Period, full-time and part-time employees will begin to be eligible for benefits as currently offered by CIA and described elsewhere in this Handbook.
The first day you report to work is your “official” anniversary date. Your anniversary date is used to compute various conditions and benefits described in this Handbook. Employees who terminate and are rehired within six months will have their anniversary date reinstated. Any employee rehired after six months will start their employment over with a new hire date and anniversary date.
A job description for each position is maintained by CIA. When your duties and responsibilities are changed, your job description may be updated.
Job descriptions also require periodic updating even if the overall duties remain the same. Updated job descriptions are evaluated within the CIA approved compensation program for appropriate pay levels. If you are not familiar with your job description, please ask your supervisor or contact the Human Resources Office. The existence of a job description does not limit your duties to those specified in it and CIA reserves the right to reassign employees to other work.
Supervisors are encouraged to regularly provide feedback on employee job performance and goal achievement. In addition, formal performance evaluations are typically conducted at the close of each fiscal year (June 30) to provide the employee and supervisor an opportunity to discuss job performance, recognize strengths, identify areas for development, improvement, and discuss approaches for setting/meeting goals.
This evaluation should include a review of the employee’s job description with their supervisor. If it is determined that changes should be made to accurately reflect the employee’s responsibilities, the supervisor will submit these to the VP of Human Resources + Inclusion. Timely submission of a performance evaluation with an overall performance rating of satisfactory or higher is required for staff to be eligible for any approved salary increase.
Compensation at the Cleveland Institute of Art is based on factors including but not limited to satisfactory job performance, economic factors (enrollment and funding), value of job within the College, value of job externally in the geographical areas in which we recruit, and other considerations. The goal of the College is to maintain a salary structure that is competitive with other institutions of higher education and the labor market from which we recruit. While not guaranteed, salary increases for cost of living and for merit, as well as periodic overall salary evaluation, are considered in this goal.
The purpose of this policy is to ensure that outside activities do not detract from employees’ and faculty members’ employment obligation to the College. Each employee is responsible for directing their primary effort to assigned responsibilities and duties related to their department, program, and the College. Outside activities, whether gainful or not, may not interfere with or infringe upon these responsibilities and duties. The use of College resources to support outside activities or employment is prohibited. For more information, refer to section 10 on the Use of College Equipment, Facilities & Resources.
Employees may hold a job outside the College as long as they meet the performance standards of their job at CIA and as long as there is no conflict or appearance of a conflict of interest. Employees should consider the impact that outside employment may have on their ability to perform their job at the College. Job performance will be judged by the same standards and will be subject to the same scheduling demands as all other employees, regardless of any outside employment. If outside employment interferes with an employee’s ability to satisfactorily meet the performance expectations of the job, the employee may be asked to terminate that outside employment to remain employed at CIA.
CIA is committed to hiring the very best talent into its workforce and in so doing recruits from diverse sources. The College also believes in providing opportunities to current employees and faculty for advancement within the College. When a vacancy occurs, the College typically posts the available position on the CIA website. Any current employee or faculty member who is interested and meets the position qualifications is encouraged to respond by submitting a cover letter and resume prior to the deadline, as indicated in the posting. Qualified employees will be considered and granted interviews as appropriate. Candidates may also be sought from the outside. Employees and faculty are eligible for the posted position only if they have held their present position for at least one year.
CIA reserves the right to promote or move employees into open positions without first internally posting the position or otherwise advertising, where this is determined to be appropriate.
In some circumstances, CIA staff may be considered for alternative work arrangements so long as such arrangement complies with the Fair Labor Standards Act and other applicable requirements. To see if you qualify, discuss your options with your supervisor and Human Resources.
Alternative work arrangements are considered on a case-by-case basis and may result in the following:
Flexible Work Schedule (Flextime)
Staff choose to shift their everyday schedule by starting the day later or leaving earlier. The total of working hours doesn’t change. “Core hours” may be established during which a staff member is obliged to be present at the workplace.
Reduced hours when a staff member works for less than the standard working hours either by fewer hours per day or by fewer days per week. In such cases salary is calculated anew depending on the new schedule. *This arrangement may affect your benefit eligibility
Compressed Work Week
Staff work longer hours on a number of days per week so they can take time off on the remaining days. Total working hours and compensation remain the same.
Remote Work
Refers to a flexible work arrangement where staff is directed or permitted to work remotely from a designated alternative work location outside of the traditional on-site work environment. Only CIA staff who are specifically authorized pursuant to this policy can work remotely (“Remote”) and have a flexible work schedule (“Flexible Work”). The staff or department's ability to utilize Remote and Flexible Work shall not negatively impact CIA’s operational standards. CIA’s decision to authorize a Remote and Flexible Work arrangement is at all times discretionary and may be modified.
Remote Work may be utilized in a hybrid or blended model (e.g. staff may be scheduled to work at the alternative work location on certain days of the week and the normal work location on others). The Flexible an Remote Work Agreement Form captures the details of the Remote and Flexible Work schedule and shall be updated when a schedule changes.
Situational Remote and Flexible Work
Situations may arise that call for use of Remote and Flexible Work that is not intended to last beyond a few days or weeks. Such situations must be approved through appropriate supervisory channels but depending on the length of time may not require a formal Remote and Flexible Work Agreement.
Infrequent remote access, defined as less than 20 days in a calendar year used to perform CIA business functions does not constitute formal Remote and Flexible Work.
Authorization
Remote and Flexible Work may be authorized for specific staff or departments, so long as there is no negative impact to the overall operations. Prior to engaging in Remote and Flexible Work, eligible staff must be authorized by the highest-ranking member of management in their department (e.g. Director), their area Vice President, and Cleveland Institute of Art Human Resources, all three of which will sign off on the Remote and Flexible Work Agreement.
A. Request for Remote and Flexible Work. When a department supervisor or an individual staff member requests authorization to perform Remote and Flexible Work, they should notify their department Supervisor or equivalent to discuss any related concerns. Cleveland Institute of Art Human Resources is available for consultation. If all parties agree with the request, the impacted staff or a member of management shall complete a Flexible an Remote Work Agreement Form.
B. Response. The approval is completed when the department Director, Vice President, and Human Resources have signed indicating their approval. The fully executed Remote and Flexible Work Agreement shall be included in the staff members personnel file.
C. Staff Eligibility. Remote and Flexible Work is not available for every staff member or for all positions. The following factors, though not an exhaustive list, may impact the determination on a Remote and Flexible Work Request:
Alternate Work Location
Computer Equipment and Supplies
The College’s regular work week is generally defined as Monday through Friday, with office hours scheduled between 8am–5pm except for those offices with service hours at other designated times. Employees will be notified by their supervisor of their regular scheduled hours of work. With reasonable advance notice, supervisors reserve the right to adjust work schedules and shift assignments to meet the College’s operational needs.
We are sensitive to the potential for favoritism (or appearance of favoritism) and other problems created by the hiring, promotion, or transfer of relatives. With this in mind, no employee in a management or supervisory position may have an immediate family member working in the same area or have direct supervisory responsibilities for that individual. Immediate family, for the purposes of this policy, is defined as spouse, domestic partner, parent, child, sister, brother. If two employees or faculty marry or become qualified domestic partners, creating a conflict with this policy, one of the employees or faculty may be asked to transfer to another position within the College (at the Chief Academic Officer’s discretion) or resign.
Human Resources
216.421.7312 | Contact
1. Introduction
2. Employment
3. Compensation
4. Paid Time Off
5. Leaves and Accommodations
6. Benefits
7. Government Required Coverage
8. Conduct + General Expectations
9. Communications
10. Use of College Equipment, Facilities + Resources
11. Visitors/Security/Personal Property
12. Other Important Information
Appendix