Flexible Work Guiding Principles

Updated April 28, 2022

Flexible work is the opportunity to vary how work requirements and obligations are fulfilled regardless of when (time) or where (place) the work is done. 

The pandemic has changed the world and has forced the workplace to evolve. Stanford is no different. The experience has shifted our collective thinking and we have had important learnings to leverage.

Flexible work decisions will be guided by the following principles:

1. Organizational mission and operational requirements. Uphold university priorities and long-range vision, and align with school/business unit needs and staffing plans.
2. Diversity and culture. Foster a diverse and inclusive culture that enables us to be agile, retain talent and further our position as a reputable and leading employer.
3. Creativity. Commit to developing creative solutions/approaches that evolve over time to engage our distributed workforce and community, and enable effective collaboration.
4. Employee experience. Address the unique needs and affordability challenges of our workforce by providing a consistent framework for varied flexible work arrangements and equitable compensation and benefits.
5. Infrastructure. Enable flexibility through university-wide technology, communications and approaches to physical space that allow for organizational alignment, efficiency and safety.
6. Training and support. Provide guidance and development opportunities to strengthen our ability to evolve and operate in a distributed environment.

Flexible Work Committee - 2021 Recommendations

• Offer all staff increased options and work flexibility.
• Establish standard criteria for evaluating job functions to be on-site, hybrid and fully remote. 
• Drive towards a uniform set of policies for compensation and benefits for remote workers. 
• Adopt uniform tools and templates that support aspects of this entire program and enhance enterprise systems to support flexible and/or remote work. 
• Encourage units to transition to shared workstations where appropriate to sustain culture and achieve operational efficiencies. 
• Set up an Office of Employee Experience in order to help units transition to a hybrid work environment and enable early adopters.