Custodians, Grounds Staff Reflect on Clearing Snow

Continued from page 6 determine whether or not they can clear the snow on time sometime in the early morning the day of the potential closure.

Even when the college decides to close, custodians and grounds employees still work because they are considered essential employees. During these official closures, non-exempt employees (including custodians, and typically other employees paid by the hour) get paid double time, two times their usual wage.

Employee A, a custodial employee who preferred to remain anonymous to protect their comfort in the workplace, said that on snow days, they usually feel like they are performing similar shoveling work for double the pay. “But,” they said, “if campus isn’t closed, and we are here [on our typically weekly schedule] … shoveling, we are just getting paid our hourly wage.”

For this reason, they also questioned the external considerations that go into keeping the school open, especially from the perspective of an employee whose pay doubles on a snow closure day. “For us, we’re like, ‘Why? Why isn’t there a snow day?’” they said.

Lauzier and Pereira, who supervise these employees, noted that while the large storms that usually lead to closures are always intense, smaller storms are usually more taxing on their departments. These kinds of storms make it harder to predict just how much snow clearing is really needed, and can end up producing a lot of work, Lauzier said. “Every time you plow it, white sticks to the ground, but when you don’t plow it, it’s never more than just that layer of white,” he said. “So you end up plowing nothing five times over and over for hours, and you’re just waiting for the last flakes to be done so that you can make that last pass and say alright, we’re done here.”

The snowstorm that occurred on Saturday, March 4, of this year was one such example, said Lauzier. Because the storm lasted for so long but never quite accumulated, he and the rest of the grounds team started clearing snow around midnight, and stayed until 3:30 in the afternoon the next day. “We got 2 inches of snow,” marveled Lauzier. “Thirteen hours of snow removal, and 2 inches.”

Lauzier and Pereira also said that some of the rarer, large storms are predicted to be so large that staff may not be able to drive from their homes to campus. In cases like these, they have the option to come to campus before the storm be- gins and stay to clear snow. Hourly non-exempt employees receive double and a half their usual pay rate for storms like these, because they are working on emergency closure pay and, after the first eight hours of work, overtime pay as well.

Pereira recounted a storm like this several years ago, when she was working as a custodian. Because the storm was so large, she and 17 other staff members arrived on campus at 5 p.m. and stayed until 2:30 the next afternoon, sleeping in an apartment in the basement of Charles Pratt Dormitory that was vacant at the time. Staff took shifts in order to continually keep clearing snow, and went to Val for coffee and meals. “To go into Val and see other people, [and ask], ‘How’s it going for you?’ ‘Yeah, it’s pretty bad.’ ‘You know, the wind is pretty crazy.’ It was just like a team. The sense of a team, it was there,” she said. Lauzier remembered a storm in February 2020 that also required staff to stay overnight. In the end, custodial and facilities cleared snow for a total of 72 hours because it just kept falling.

Clearing the Snow

In any size storm, grounds and custodial departments prioritize clearing snow from the areas that will be most heavily-trafficked the day of the storm. They use a list of events occurring on campus that day in order to plan effectively — for example, the walkways around the gym become more important if there is a game occurring that day.

For this same reason, the stairways and entrances outside dorms and academic buildings like the science center are also a priority. “If it snows, no matter what the case is, you’re responsible for maintaining clear sidewalks and stairs to your building,” said Bryce Benware, a custodian at the college. He described that this responsibility looks different depending on “how much snow we get, how fast it’s coming down, and when it starts.”

“If it’s snowing all day, then you typically would find yourself spending the majority of your day just shoveling. Because by the time you cleared your last place, your first place is already building up snow again,” he said. But if the snow is lighter or doesn’t continue for long, its impact is more just that he has to adjust his cleaning schedule slightly. “It does take away some of your time, so now you just gotta figure out how you’re gonna manage some of your time.”

Employee A mentioned the additional labor that shoveling adds to their responsibilities, especially when it is snowing heavily. “Physically, mentally, and emotionally. Your body hurts, you know? You’re already required to do a physical task inside, and then you’re outside,” they said. “It’s tough. And the clothing thing. You’re soaking wet, you’re sweating, you have to change … And then to come in and have to clean.”

Because custodians are responsible for both cleaning and shoveling around the dorm, Employee A described having to adapt their regular cleaning schedule in order to keep the walkways clear of snow. “You’re juggling running in and out to shovel … the entrances always have to be clear,” they said.

Employee B also said that while shoveling can be fun at times, “It’s super exhausting when you have to finish working outside in order to begin [cleaning] inside. There are times when you hurt your back from overwork.”

Given the tax of this additional work, “We don’t get paid accordingly,” said Employee A. They noted that oftentimes custodians do not come to work with proper attire to be shoveling outside all day. If employees from an outsourced snow removal company came to clear the snow, Employee A said, they guess that they’d be paid more than custodians do for their work. Employee B agreed.

“I think we should be paid more. Because we add more work to our shift. Remove all the snow, sprinkle salt, and then we have to clean the buildings inside,” they said. “Our work is on the rise but our salary is not.” Employee B noted that they see these feelings as common among their coworkers, too. “I don’t only speak for myself,” they said.

Benware said he personally only notices the extra burden when it’s snowing heavily and he has to spend the whole day shoveling. The lighter snow responsibilities are something he signed up for on the job. “And what I think it really comes down to is just making sure that everyone who has to walk across the campus is safe,” he said. “I don’t really think … much thought goes into ‘Oh, their workload is bigger,’ or ‘Oh, let’s lighten it a little bit.’ No matter what, we gotta do the work. It’s about the people who are using the campus and the facilities, and just keeping it safe.”

Employee A said that preparing for snow adds stress to their life. “When you’re preparing the night before for a storm, you’re thinking about yourself, your home, your family, and then you also have to think about the work aspect of it,” they said. “Is your family going to be safe? Are you going to have power at home? And you have to shovel your way out of your home to arrive here on time.”

Employee A cited this as another reason why they would often prefer the college to call an official snow day closure even if it may be physically possible for staff to remove the snow while keeping campus open. This way, essential staff could take

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