Out-of-State Work location due to the COVID-19 Pandemic

As many faculty and staff are working remotely as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic (“the pandemic”), the university is reviewing the out-of-state work locations of faculty and staff and updating the university’s records, as applicable.  This review is required to ensure the university’s compliance with regulatory requirements and to enable employees with out-of-state work locations to update their state income tax withholding.

Consistent with University Policy 3505 Out-of-State Work Locations, an out-of-state work location is a location outside Connecticut from which an employee works for at least one day per week on a continual basis.  The university will consider any remote work arrangement in which a faculty or staff member is teaching and/or working outside Connecticut during the pandemic for at least one day per week on a regular basis as an out-of-state work location. 

Out-of-State Work Locations (Domestic):

If you have a faculty or staff member in your unit requesting to work outside the state of Connecticut please ensure the following process is followed:

1. Review the Out-of-State Work location procedure, and then check to see if the state has been approved or not.
   • If the state has been approved, please make sure that the Business Office initiates the Workday business process, Change Job – Change Work Location.
   •  If the state does not appear on the list of approved states, please complete the Out-of-State (Domestic) Questionnaire for Faculty and Staff during COVID-19 and submit to employee.services@yale.edu. 
   • If the request is approved, by the Out-of-State Work Location Committee, your HR Generalist will update the Business Office and then the Business Office can initiate the Workday business process, Change Job – Change Work location. This update may automatically change the employee’s state income tax withholding in Workday.
   • If the request is denied, your HR Generalist will inform the Business Office of the denial.
2. Because the employee’s state income tax withholding may change as a result of a work location change effective immediately, please direct the faculty and staff members with approved out-of-state work locations (i.e., either those working in an approved state or those receiving approval to work in a non-approved state) to review and update their state income tax withholdings as appropriate in Workday.  Please share the following instructions for changing income tax withholding in Workday (Guide to Payroll Tax Forms, Withholding Election Form). The faculty or staff member may want to consult with their personal tax advisor to ensure the state income tax withholding is adequate.

Out-of-State Work Locations (International):

If you have a faculty or staff member in your unit requesting to work outside the United States, please ensure the following process is followed:

1. Complete the appropriate questionnaire (see below) and submit it to Carolyn Marks at Carolyn.marks@yale.edu.

• Ladder-Track and Instructional Faculty working from outside the United States:
  Out-of-State (International) Questionnaire for Ladder-Track and Instructional Faculty during COVID-19 Pandemic
• Research Faculty and Staff (M&Ps, C&Ts, S&Ms, Postdoctoral Associates**) working from outside the United States:
  Form 3505 FR.02 Out-of-State (International) Hiring & Placement Questionnaire

These requests will be reviewed by the Out-of-State Work Location Committee, a team comprised of representatives from Human Resources, Office of the Provost, Office of General Counsel, Risk Management, Office of Sponsored Projects, Payroll and the Tax Department, to determine whether the work location is permissible based on current regulatory requirements. The approval or denial of a request will be communicated to the HR Generalist.  If the international location has been approved, please make sure to conduct the Workday business process, Change Job – Change Work Location.

In addition to university compliance obligations, faculty or staff with an out-of-state work location may be subject to personal employment-related obligations and other laws of their work location (e.g., income tax withholding, state and local individual income tax filing obligations). A separate communication will be sent to faculty and staff directing them to work with their business office to submit a request for an out-of-state work location and to remind them of potential state income tax and other state obligations.

If you need further assistance or have questions regarding the process, please work with your HR Generalist for staff and the Deans’ Offices for faculty.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.