Inclement Weather information

Click here for the official Bristol Community College Inclement Weather Policy.

Local Media Outlets for College Announcements

All announcements about the college closing and delayed openings will be made to local television and radio stations:

• Rhode Island Broadcasters Association Stations (Check the participating member list)
• WSAR 1480 AM (Fall River)
• WBSM 1420 AM (New Bedford)
• WFHN 107 FM (New Bedford)
• WHDH 7 (Boston)
• WBZ 4 (Boston)
• WCVB 5 (Boston)

Closings

If weather conditions or other emergencies dictate that the college should be closed, an announcement will be made on the college’s website, media outlets listed below, and the college’s official social media channels. Every attempt will be made to make this announcement before 6 a.m. An announcement will also be placed on the college’s automated answering system at 508.678.2811. When the college is closed, designated essential employees must report for work. Non-essential personnel are respectfully requested to not come on campus.

Delayed Opening

Weather conditions or other emergencies may lead to a decision to begin classes later than usual. An announcement of delayed opening will be made on local radio and television stations and will be placed on the college’s automated answering system. The college’s website is the official notice used to communicate the information.

Classes will follow the normal schedule after the delayed opening. Essential personnel are expected to report as scheduled. Those not designated as essential should report at the established delayed opening. For example, if the opening of the college was delayed until 10 a.m., faculty are expected to meet with classes that start at 10 a.m. All other employees, who are not designated as essential, should report at 10 a.m., or whenever normally scheduled to report in after the opening.

Early Release

During inclement weather or another emergency, the college may close early during regular working hours if the college president, in consultation with the Vice President for Administration and Finance, believes that the closing is necessary to protect the health, safety, and security of the students, faculty, and staff.

The Vice President for Administration and Finance (or designee) will advise and communicate the time and terms of the early release to the appropriate people so they may inform personnel in their areas.

Employee Compensation

1. If the college closes before the end or beginning of a shift or opens later than scheduled and essential employees are expected to work, they will receive compensatory time for hours worked. Full-time benefited employees that are scheduled to work on the day of the closure will be paid for hours scheduled for that day.
   • Example: If an early release is declared for 2 p.m., all essential employees scheduled to work the day shift until 3:30 p.m. will receive 1.5 hours of compensatory time, since the first shift is scheduled to end at 3:30 p.m., and essential employees are expected to remain on duty.
2. Full-time benefited employees scheduled to work second or third shift, who are not designated as essential employees, will also be paid for the day, and essential employees will receive compensatory time for the number of hours worked.
3. Non-benefited employees will be paid only for the number of hours worked before the early release or after the delayed opening.
4. Employees who have elected to be absent from their regular schedule before the announcement of a cancellation, early release, or delayed opening, whether on vacation, personal time, sick leave, or compensatory time, are not entitled to compensatory time.
5. If there are inclement traveling conditions, but the college is open, faculty and staff must use their own judgment about the safety of traveling conditions in their own geographic locations. Those who determine that travel conditions are unsafe must use vacation, personal, or compensatory time (if applicable) to charge their absences.
6. Essential employees who call in sick when the college closes, is in a delayed opening, or an early release will be charged for sick time and not awarded compensatory time. A doctor’s note may be required.