We help you weather the storm

Weather or Emergency Event Status

What is My Weather or Emergency Event Status?

When emergency events, such as inclement weather or other disruptions, impact UVA operations, it is important for employees to understand their roles, responsibilities, and available resources. UVA is committed to ensuring the safety of our staff and students while maintaining essential operations during emergency events. 

Employees in both the Academic Division and UVA Health have been given a status of either "designated" or "non-designated". The designation helps us respond more effectively during inclement weather and other emergencies and helps employees and team members better understand what is expected of them in emergency situations. You may check with your manager or HR Business Partner if you're unsure of your designation status.

See also the FAQs listed at the bottom of this page. 

Information on emergency event status messages can be found here.

Status of Operations by Division

Additional Resources

Weather Event Information by Division

When a weather event is predicted, if you are able to work remotely, be prepared to work from home if your position permits. This includes bringing home your computer when leaving prior to a storm arriving. If there is no closing or modified operations when the event occurs, you would resume your normal duties and return to work. 

FAQs for your role

  • How can I find my Designated Status?

    If you work in the Academic Division, your emergency event status designation status is visible in Workday:

    • Navigate to Workday > Personal Information > View "About Me"
    • In the "Job Details" area on the right side of the page, click on your "Position"
    • In the "Additional Information" on the right side of the page, your "Additional Job Classifications" will show your emergency event status (designated or non-designated)
    • Managers can change designations in Workday by doing a "Change Job" and editing the details tab, or asking an HRMS specialist to do it

    University Medical Center team members can refer to the Modified Operations Medical Center policy regarding their designation.

    If you're still unsure of your status, please speak with your supervisor for clarification. 

  • I am Designated but don't understand why?

    Please ask your manager about the reason for your designation status. 

  • What happens if I cannot safely report to work as a designated employee?

    Communicate this information to your manager for advice, safety remains a priority. If you are unable to report to work as a designated employee, you will need to utilize PTO. 

  • I am a Manager, how can I change my employee's designation status?

    Managers can change designations in Workday. Individual schools or units may set a deadline so that they can ensure readiness as the winter season approaches. There is no system-mandated deadline. Designation can be changed as needed, but the employee/s must be informed in advance. 

    All employees are pre-populated as non-designated. To change that to “designated” a manager must actively make the change. Managers must do this for each designated employee. 

    Managers should review the designation status of employees newly hired into their department to confirm the employee's designation is correct. 

    To Change Designation status for an employee:

    1. Enter Change Job in the Workday global search.
    2. From the Worker prompt, select My Team>name of worker.
    3. If applicable, select the Job you wish to change.
    4. Click OK. 
    5. Click on the When do you want this change to take effect? Edit the date as needed.
    6. Choose Data Change>Change Emergency Event Status in the "Why are you making this change?" field.
    7. Click Start.

    On the Details tab:

    1. Click in the Job Classification section.
    2. Enter the new value for the Emergency Event Status in the search field and click enter. Deselect the old value.
    3. Select Save.
    4. Click Next.

    On the Summary tab:

    1. Review the changes.
    2. Click Submit.

  • As a Manager, is there a report to see the designation status for my team?

    Yes, managers can run an Emergency Event Status report from Workday for their employees that specifies who are designated vs. non-designated. 

    • In Workday, using the search feature, search for "emergency event status," and click on it
    • Input the effective date
    • For the department, put in a key word for your department; e.g.: "Economics"
    • Select your department, starting with letters "ACD" that matches your department name (e.g. ACD-31750 AS-Economics)
    • Click OK
    • Depending on your screen size, you may need to scroll to the right to see the Job Classifications-Position column, which shows designation status