6/29/20; 12:06PM
The UNC System Office recently issued updated employee work and leave guidance to be effective July 1, 2020 and until further revised or rescinded.
Consistent with the current guidance for June, we will continue to maximize teleworking, to the extent possible, and will continue to designate additional employees to return to on-campus work only as necessary, based on evolving on-campus operational needs.
All requests from departments to designate additional employees as mandatory and return them to on-campus work, continue to require approval of the Chancellor through the respective Divisional Vice Chancellors. All on-campus work will strictly follow all published return to on-site work safety guidelines.
Any approved plan to designate additional employees as mandatory will give special consideration to employees who are determined to be high risk for experiencing complications from contracting COVID-19, as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Employees who are asked to return to on-campus work and who may need consideration related to an underlying health condition, or who have other circumstances that may affect their ability to return to work on campus or to comply with workplace safety requirements, should complete the High-Risk Form located on the Office of Human Resources COVID-19 website.
As announced in the June guidance, employees may use accrued vacation leave, bonus leave and sick leave interchangeably, regardless of the reason for the employee’s absence from work, through December 31, 2020. Accrued overtime compensatory time must be used before other forms of leave (this does not apply to special COVID-19 compensatory time provided to mandatory employees during April and May).
New Pay and Leave Provisions Effective July 1, 2020:
- Paid administrative leave will continue for permanent university employees under certain circumstances but will be paid at 1/3 of the employee’s regular rate of pay, rather than the 2/3 paid in June. Employees may apply accrued compensatory time, vacation leave, bonus leave, or sick leave to make up the difference between the 1/3 paid administrative leave and 100 percent of their regular pay. Accrued overtime compensatory time must be used before other forms of leave (this does not apply to special COVID-19 compensatory time provided to mandatory employees during April and May).
The 1/3 paid administrative leave is available to:
- Permanent employees who are not specifically designated as mandatory to maintain on-campus operations and who cannot perform work remotely.
- Permanent employees who cannot work because they have elder care needs due to COVID-19-related facilities closings will continue to receive 2/3 paid administrative leave for up to a total of 12 weeks, in line with leave provided for child care facility closures under the Federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). Paid administrative leave for this purpose will reduce to 1/3 at the end of the initial 12-week period.
- Permanent employees who cannot work because they have child care needs due to COVID-19-related school or child care facility closures will continue to receive 2/3 paid administrative leave while eligible for FFCRA leave. Paid administrative leave for these purposes will reduce to 1/3 when FFCRA eligibility has been exhausted. Please apply for FFCRA leave here.
- Active temporary employees may be eligible for leave under FFCRA but are not eligible for paid administrative leave.
2. Campuses have been authorized, at their discretion, to establish a COVID-19 shared leave bank to support employees who exhaust their personal leave accruals. We will establish a shared leave program on our campus to help employees supplement the reduced paid administrative and/or FFCRA leaves. We will communicate details of the new program soon, including procedures for employees who wish to voluntarily donate leave to the bank and employees who have a need to receive leave from the bank for an approved purpose.
Thank you again for your patience as we continue to adapt to changing conditions and updates to guidance. Please watch closely for additional updates and direct any questions you may have to the Office of Human Resources.