Employees discuss meaning of ‘essential personnel,’ snowstorm

Like many Pitt employees, Donna Washington commutes to work by riding the bus and walking… Like many Pitt employees, Donna Washington commutes to work by riding the bus and walking Oakland’s pedestrian-friendly streets.

But unlike many employees, Washington holds an “essential position” at Pitt, and had to battle the elements and report to campus during last week’s snow cancellations.

Washington works as a security guard in Towers’ lobby, monitoring the flow of student traffic in and out of the dormitories. Her home is located near Trees Hall in North Oakland, and it usually takes her about 20 minutes to get to work. Last week, Mother Nature and University policy complicated her commute, she said, and the trip took nearly an hour each way.

“I usually cruise down Lothrop Street and cut along Fifth,” Washington said. “Last week I had to wrap all the way around Oakland to get down the hill. Lothrop was buried and the buses were shut down.”

Washington managed to make it to work “just a few minutes late” each day, she said, adding that her superiors were sympathetic about their employees’ difficulties in reaching campus.

“Getting home from work was the worst part,” she said. “The Port Authority buses weren’t even trying to get up the hill. I had to walk all the way up.”

Pitt spokesman John Fedele explained why Washington and other Pitt employees had to report to work last week, even though classes were canceled and more than two feet of snow fell.

“There are certain positions that the University can not operate without, which are considered essential,” Fedele said. “The definition of essential personnel is determined at the individual responsibility level in each department, which is just a fancy way to say the process is not centralized.”

The University leaves the process of determining which employees are essential up to the individual departments and divisions, Fedele said. When Pitt hires a new employee, he or she is informed whether or not they are essential personnel, depending on how vital their position is to daily campus operations. If an employee is termed essential, then they are expected to show up at work even during record snowfalls.

Fedele wasn’t able to comment on exactly how many essential personnel there are at Pitt, but hedid describe the types of positions typically included in that category.

“Because it is not centralized, we do not keep track of everyone considered essential, but in general these positions include any emergency personnel such as police, mechanical and ground staff. These are the people who keep the heat running, the water running, the elevators running,” Fedele said. “Some lab technicians are also considered essential personnel.”

Many of the laboratories at Pitt require 24-hour monitoring and work, Fedele explained. And so some lab technicians and researchers who have tests or maintenance scheduled must come in even when the rest of the campus isn’t open.

The last main category of essential personnel are those employees who work in food service. Although workers in this category are hired by Sodexo and are not technically Pitt employees, they are considered essential to campus operation.

As of press-time Sunday, neither Dining Services nor Sodexo responded to e-mails and phone calls requesting information about the way last week’s snow affected operations.

“We are not allowed to share specifics,” Ramesh Reddy, a manager for Sodexo in Market Central, said. “But the past days have definitely been interesting down here. We’ve managed pretty much the same way everyone else did, just trudging along.”

While many of Pitt’s employees are not expected to work from their offices when the campus is closed, they are still expected to conduct University business from home because their presence isn’t essential to their jobs, Fedele said.

Such employees include both the chancellor and the provosts.

“The chancellor is always working, and so are the provosts,” Fedele said. “I can’t say whether or not they reported to campus earlier this week, but they were expected to keep the University functioning during the storm. So while they may not be considered essential personnel, their work is definitely essential even when the campus is closed.”

Many campus jobs work the same way, Fedele added, including his own.

“Even though I’m at home I am still expected to answer calls and media inquiries,” Fedele said. “The chancellor’s and the provosts’ jobs work the same way.”