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Guide to Return of University Property and Employee Systems Access When an Employee is Out of the Office

INTRODUCTION

Employees suspend or leave university employment for many reasons. Some employees take voluntary leaves of absences or have a position that is furloughed or temporarily laid off for several months at a time. Other employees may be out of the office during a pending disciplinary action or investigation. Employees can also separate from university employees for a variety of reasons. This document serves as a guide for managers and supervisors to understand considerations and actions for collecting physical university property during these short-term or indefinite periods of employee separation as well as additional factors to consider when reviewing continued access to university electronic systems for short-term absences from the office.

COLLECTING KEYS AND OTHER PHYSICAL PROPERTY

Separating employees are required to turn in all University-owned materials, keys, ID badges, computers, cell phones and any other University-owned items. While your employee is on a leave of absence, consider the following when deciding whether to request they turn in their keys, mobile phone/electronic device(s), or other University-owned items.

Keys

  1. How many keys does the employee have?
  2. What kind of keys does the employee have and what do they open? An employee may have access to master keys (i.e. to open buildings), operating keys (i.e. to open doors, offices, work spaces), incidental keys (i.e. to open filing cabinets).
  3. Are there multiple copies of these keys? If you need one or more of these keys, is the employee the only one with access to them? 
  4. Does the employee have keys to an unknown destination? Have any unlabeled keys returned to UCSC Lockshop.

If you find that your employee is one of the only people who have access to keys that open a particular room, filing cabinet, etc. and you believe you might need access while they are on leave, you might consider requesting that the employee temporarily turn in the key(s) due to business needs.

Mobile/Electronic Devices

While your employee is on a leave of absence, consider the following when deciding whether to request they turn in their University-owned mobile/electronic device. 

  1. Does your employee use the mobile device as their primary form of communication while conducting University business?
  2. Are there other employees in your unit that could benefit from having this mobile device instead?
  3. Has your employee demonstrated care, good judgment, and responsibility with their mobile device?

Off-Boarding Checklist

For employees who are permanently leaving the university, supervisors and managers should review the staff off-boarding checklist to ensure all property and employee systems access are returned and ended, respectively.

ACCESS TO ELECTRONIC RECORDS

Obtaining Access to Electronic Records When an Employee is On Leave

When an employee is on a temporary leave from the office or is separating from university employment, managers and supervisors should consider what types of documents are needed during the employee’s absence to continue business operations. Documents may include, but are not limited to relevant business emails, documents, spreadsheets or presentations contained in the Google suite, or reports and information contained in a system uniquely accessible to the employee.

Whenever possible, employees should follow the Google Apps Off-boarding process prior to their departure to ensure that their manager has access to all necessary information. Similarly, managers should request access to any other electronic records they may need prior to the employee leaving.

Restricting Employee Systems Access During a Leave

When an employee is on a leave of absence (with or without pay), the university’s standard practice is to maintain the employee’s email and systems access, which may include but is not limited to the employee’s email account, documents within the Google Suite, calendar access, and internal UC Santa Cruz systems used for record keeping. The university will not shut off access to the employee’s email account or other systems unless the employee presents a significant risk to university property, including the misuse of proprietary or confidential information. If a manager is concerned about potential misuse of property or confidential information by an employee on a leave of absence, the manager should promptly alert their assigned Employee Relations Analyst.

Consistent with the University of California’s Electronic Communication Policy, a supervisor or manager should undertake the following risk assessment with their assigned Employee Relations Analyst to determine whether an employee’s continued access to email or other University systems justifies removal some or all of an employee’s systems access while on a leave or furlough:

  • Would the employee’s continued access to university systems result in significant bodily harm, property loss, or damage?
  • Would the employee’s continued access lead to loss of significant evidence in a pending litigation or ongoing university case?
  • Would the employee’s continued access lead to one or more violations of law or university policy?
  • Would the employee’s access result in significant liability to the university or to members of the university community?

When a supervisor or manager undertakes this assessment, they should measure each factor by a preponderance of the evidence standard, meaning is it “more likely than not” that continued employee systems access will result in one or more of the kinds of harm stated above. Assessments should continue a factual analysis of why the harm is likely to occur based on previous employee conduct or behavior.

Once a supervisor or manager completes their assessment, they should contact their Employee or Labor Relations analyst for a consultation. Your ELR analyst will review the assessment and may ask follow up questions to assist with determining the appropriateness of systems access removal.

ACCESS WITHOUT CONSENT

Employees are expected to comply with requests for copies of electronic communications records in their possession that pertain to University business or as required by law [1]. With several exception, such as the exceptions outlined in UCSC ITS Routine System Monitoring Practices, or for routine monitoring of access to institutional collections of patient and student records, an electronic communications record holder’s consent should be sought by the University prior to accessing  disclosure of electronic communications records in the holder’s possession. Exceptions are allowed under the following, as provided for under UC ECP Section IV.B, Access Without Consent:

  • i. When required by and consistent with law,
  • ii. When there is a Substantiated Reason to believe that violations of law or University policy [2] have taken place,
  • iii. When there are Compelling Circumstances,
  • iv. Under Time-dependent, Critical Operational Circumstances,
  • v. Under Emergency Circumstances