Out-of-State Work Procedures

Out-of-State Work Procedures

The Out-of-State Work Policy requires BYU employees, as conditions of employment, to live in and perform university work in Utah. The policy lists seven limited exceptions. These procedures are designed to provide additional resources and clarification to assist employees and their supervisors in properly interpreting and implementing the policy.

Questions

Questions about the policy and these procedures should be directed to:

Associate Academic Vice President – Faculty Relations;
Manager of Staff and Administrative Employment; or
Manager of Student Employment.

Questions related to compliance with out-of-state tax, insurance, workers’ compensation, and employment laws should be directed to Regulatory Accounting and Reporting and the Office of the General Counsel.

Examples

1. A faculty member wishes to relocate outside Utah for a semester and teach courses remotely.

This work arrangement is not acceptable because teaching a course remotely from outside Utah for a semester does not constitute remote work during isolated travel of up to 30 days. None of the exceptions applies.

2. An adjunct professor teaching a course unexpectedly moves to another state during the semester. The academic department would like to continue to employ the adjunct professor to teach remotely from the adjunct professor’s new home outside Utah until the end of the semester.

This arrangement is acceptable provided the academic vice president approves and the adjunct professor’s employment is processed through a BYU-owned subsidiary that complies with the legal and regulatory requirements of the other state.

3. A faculty member is assigned to oversee a university study abroad program in Spain for an entire semester.

This work arrangement is acceptable because it constitutes a university assignment or program outside Utah that is approved by the responsible vice president or assistant to the president.

4. A department wishes to hire an applicant who lives outside Utah to immediately fill a critical administrative or faculty role at the university. The applicant requests permission to work temporarily in the state where the applicant currently lives until the applicant can conveniently move to Utah.

This work arrangement is not acceptable because the employee still lives in another state. BYU employees are required to live and work in Utah. None of the exceptions applies.

5. During a planned 16-day vacation outside Utah, an employee works several hours by remotely attending a meeting and responding to time-sensitive emails that cannot await the employee’s return to the office.

Although work during a vacation is not encouraged, this work does not violate the policy because it takes place during isolated travel of up to 30 days.

6. A faculty member attends an academic conference in Europe.

Attending a work-related conference outside Utah is acceptable because it takes place during isolated travel of up to 30 days.

7. An administrative employee decides to spend paid parental leave at a parent’s home in another state. During this time, no work is being performed by the employee.

This would not constitute “out-of-state work” because no work is being performed. The employee continues to live in Utah and the employee’s work, when the employee returns to it, continues to be based in Utah.

8. An employee works with touring performance groups, traveling to other states and countries for several weeks during the year.

This work arrangement is acceptable provided the work constitutes a university assignment approved by the responsible vice president or
assistant to the president.

9. A group of employees go to Greece for several weeks to film a university-sponsored documentary about the Apostle Paul’s visit to various locations in Greece.

This work arrangement is acceptable provided the work constitutes a university assignment approved by the responsible vice president or assistant to the president.

10. An employee seeks permission to work remotely out of state for a month while accompanying the employee’s spouse to an out-of-state work assignment for the spouse’s non-BYU employer.

This work arrangement could be acceptable provided that (1) the work arrangement is approved pursuant to the university’s Remote Work Policy; (2) the out-of-state stay is isolated and does not exceed 30 days; (3) the employee’s residence continues to be in Utah; and (4) the employee’s work continues to be based in Utah.

11. An employee requests permission to work remotely from a second home outside Utah one to two weeks a month during several months of the year.

This work arrangement is not acceptable because frequent and repeated work in the same place outside Utah does not constitute remote work during isolated travel of up to 30 days. None of the exceptions applies.

12. An adjunct faculty member lives outside Utah but travels to Utah once a week to teach class and hold office hours for students.

This work arrangement is acceptable under the exception allowing employment of adjunct faculty living outside Utah as long as the adjunct faculty member travels to Utah to perform university work.

13. A faculty member lives in Utah on weekdays to work on campus, including teaching classes and holding office hours for students. On most weekends, the faculty member travels to a location outside of Utah to be with immediate family who do not live in Utah.

This work arrangement is acceptable provided the faculty member continues to live in Utah on weekdays (Monday – Friday) to perform core work functions, such as teaching classes and holding office hours for students on campus. This arrangement would not be acceptable were the faculty member to perform core work functions while outside of Utah.

14. A faculty member requests approval from the academic vice president to live and work outside Utah as an employee of a BYU-owned subsidiary.

This request cannot be granted because the option of employing individuals to live and work outside Utah through a BYU-owned subsidiary is limited to adjunct faculty and non-benefited BYU Continuing Education employees only.

15. A faculty member on a ten-month contract travels to and lives in another state for the two months that the faculty member is not contracted to teach.

The faculty member’s time outside Utah does not violate the policy provided the faculty member returns to Utah to live and work during the ten months of the university contract.

16. A faculty member lives temporarily outside the country during eight months of unpaid personal leave.

This arrangement is acceptable because the faculty member is on unpaid leave and is not performing services for the university. However, the faculty member will need to return to Utah to live when the faculty member resumes work at BYU at the end of the leave.

17. A student employee who attended winter semester and plans to attend fall semester seeks approval to do some work remotely from a parent’s home in another state during the four-month summer break between semesters.

This work arrangement is acceptable provided that the supervisor allows it and the student meets the credit requirements for student employment. The student would need to live in Utah during fall semester in order to work for BYU after the break.

18. A student employee asks to work remotely from a parent’s home in Arizona during winter semester while taking classes through BYU Online.

This work arrangement is not acceptable because it does not constitute remote work outside Utah during isolated travel of up to 30 days or remote work by a student employee during a break between consecutive semesters. None of the exceptions applies.

19. A student employed as a foreign language TA plans to attend a university in another country for a semester through the Kennedy Center. The academic department would like the student to continue to work remotely as a TA during the time abroad.