Required COVID Training for Longwood Faculty & Staff

Please also review Longwood’s Temporary COVID-19 Workplace Policy

Updated August 12, 2020

TEMPORARY COVID-19 WORKPLACE POLICY AND PROCEDURES

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented an unparalleled challenge for the world, the United States, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and Longwood University. Almost every aspect of daily life has been affected in some way by the pandemic. The workplace is no exception. While the Commonwealth has eased many of the restrictions related to the pandemic, state officials have urged us to remain vigilant, cautious, and measured. The Governor’s Executive Order 61 notes that “(t)he path forward will not be business as usual.” Longwood’s workforce and workplace will be different during the pandemic. To be successful, it will take hard work, flexibility, creativity, and personal responsibility from all Longwood employees. This temporary policy and the associated procedures are designed to assist Longwood employees to navigate the workplace in the months to come.

A. RESPONSIBLE HEALTH BEHAVIOR

State, federal, and local officials have outlined strategies and guidance for mitigating the spread of COVID-19. This guidance continues to evolve and change. Longwood expects employees to comply with guidance and encourages responsible public health behavior on campus. During the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, Longwood encourages employees to do the following:

• Stay home when you are sick or have been contact exposed;

• Prior to coming to campus each day, conduct a self-check for any of the following new and otherwise unexplained symptoms: fever, cough, shortness of breath, chills, sore throat, muscles aches, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and/or loss of taste or smell.

• Engage in social distancing and stay at least 6 feet (about 2 arms lengths) from others;

• When possible, provide business service virtually;

• Wash your hands often;

• Wear face coverings as required;

• Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or use the inside of your elbow when you cough or sneeze;

• Clean your workspace;

• Adjust your workspace to accommodate social distancing;

• When possible, favor phone calls or virtual meetings over in-person meetings, including faculty office hours; and

• Implement flexible work hours (staggered shifts) when possible.

Longwood prohibits retaliation of any kind against an employee who is engaging in responsible health behavior in accordance with this policy.

B. FACE COVERINGS

Faculty, staff, and guests should wear face coverings at all times when they are inside campus buildings unless they are inside private, individual office spaces.

Those whose work space serves the public should wear a face covering. This includes all classroom settings, where all present should wear face coverings at all times (The Student Handbook requires face coverings at all times in classrooms and any shared spaces on campus).

Exceptions may apply in areas, such as performing arts and in certain other buildings on campus such as the Health and Fitness Center and dining areas, where other precautions grounded in public health guidance are in place.

Employees may require that visitors to their personal work space wear face coverings.

The CDC advises that the risk of transmission is reduced in outdoor spaces where there is greater ventilation and it is easier to maintain social distance. When they are outside, employees should wear a face covering if they cannot maintain a physical distance of at least six feet.

Face coverings should meet the standards of the Virginia Department of Health, which states face coverings should: 1) fit snugly but comfortably against the side of your face and cover your nose and mouth; 2) be secured with ties or ear loops; 3) be made of more than one layer of fabric that you can still breathe through; and 4) be able to be washed and machine dried without damage or change to shape.

C. SICK LEAVE

1. The CDC has identified COVID-19 symptoms which may include the following: fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, and diarrhea. Employees are encouraged to self-monitor for COVID-19 symptoms and should make daily symptom checks.

If you are experiencing symptoms:

Longwood employees who become ill with symptoms of influenza-like illness should stay home and notify their supervisor. If they are at work they should leave the workplace. They should contact a health professional to evaluate if they should be tested for COVID-19.

If you have been in close contact with someone with COVID-19.

Employees who have been in close contact with someone with COVID-19 should stay home, inform their supervisor, and consult a health professional about obtaining a COVID-19 test. Close contact includes: living in the same household as a sick or presumed positive person with COVID-19; caring for a sick or presumed positive person with COVID-19; being within 6 feet of a sick or presumed positive person with COVID-19 for 15 minutes or longer; or being in direct contact with secretions from a sick person with COVID-19 (e.g., being coughed on, kissing, sharing utensils, etc.).

If you are being tested for COVID-19.

If your health condition or possible exposure has prompted a Covid-19 test you should continue to stay home pending results of that test. If you receive a positive test result, or are told by a health provider you are believed to have Covid-19, you must notify Human Resources (hrCOVID19@longwood.edu) immediately, as well as of the dates of the contact exposure and start of any symptoms.

Use of Sick Leave

Employees should use sick leave while obtaining a COVID-19 test, and if they are confirmed to have Covid-19. Employees may use existing sick leave, Family First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) Emergency Sick Leave (up to 80 hours through 12/31/2020), or the Public Health Emergency Leave (PHEL) (up to 80 hours). Employees should contact Human Resources to request FFCRA Emergency Sick Leave or PHEL.

Return to Work

The university may require the employee to provide documentation from a health care provider prior to returning to work.

Those who test positive for COVID-19 are not permitted to return to campus until they are cleared by a health care provider to do so. At a minimum, per CDC guidance such employees shall not return to work until at least 10 days have passed since symptoms first appeared and at least 24 hours have passed since recovery, defined as resolution of fever without the use of fever-reducing medications and improvement in respiratory symptoms (e.g., cough, shortness of breath).

The University Health Center (434-395-2102) is a resource available to faculty and staff as well as students for consultations related to possible COVID-19 exposure, symptoms, and return-to-work.

D. TELEWORK FOR CLASSIFIED AND AP EMPLOYEES

1. The Governor, through executive order, has instructed all business sectors to encourage teleworking whenever possible. However, with students’ return to campus in August, employees need to discuss with their supervisors their work arrangements for the fall semester, such as alternate schedules or telework options described in Virginia DHRM Policy 1.61 Teleworking.

2. Employees whose positions are eligible for telework and who wish to telework during the fall semester must update their current telework agreement or complete a telework agreement with Human Resources by Monday, August 3, 2020. (see Longwood University Standard Telework Agreement).

3. Supervisors are encouraged to be flexible when approving telework/alternate schedule options and be mindful of employees who fall into CDC high-risk categories or who have increased childcare and school or family obligations resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. However, telework assignments should not change the condition of employment, the number of hours worked, or the job duties of an employee. Those employees who telework are required to comply with state policies, and there may be jobs which are not appropriate for telework/alternate schedule options.

4. Supervisors should discuss with their vice president the telework/alternate schedule options for their employees. Vice presidents, in consultation with Human Resources, will have the final approval of telework/alternate schedule options for employees in their division.

E. FACULTY TEACHING ADAPTATION

1. Faculty members who fall within one of the CDC high-risk categories for COVID-19 may request a temporary teaching adaptation for the fall semester. Temporary teaching adaptation requests could include priority for a larger classroom space or the ability to teach some or all classes online (with required professional development if needed).

2. A faculty teaching adaptation form should be completed and sent to Human Resources by Tuesday, July 7, 2020. Individuals who have medical conditions that put them at higher risk for COVID-19 will be required to provide medical documentation to Human Resources. Medical information will be kept confidential. Those eligible for adaptations are determined and identified by Human Resources. Reasonable adaptations are implemented in a collaborative process among the employee and their supervisors.

3. Longwood provides reasonable adaptations due to COVID-19 to qualified faculty members. In general, it is the employee’s responsibility to inform Human Resources that they need a COVID19 related adaptation. A supervisor is not required to provide reasonable adaptations if they are not aware of the employee’s need and desire for the adaptation.

F. LEAVE OF ABSENCE

1. There is currently no vaccine to protect against COVID-19, and anyone can get COVID-19. No one can completely eliminate all the risk of getting COVID-19. The University recognizes that there may be employees who are simply unable to perform job obligations due to family care or the decision to self-isolate for other than medical reasons. These employees may request a temporary, unpaid leave of absence from Human Resources. Such requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis in consultation with the employee’s supervisor. Classified employees may request unpaid leave pursuant to Virginia DHRM Policy 4.45 – Leave Without Pay – Conditional and Unconditional. Faculty may request unpaid leaves of absence under the Faculty 4 Policies and Procedures Manual (FPPM, 2019-2020, pp.176-77, Section III, GG. Leaves of Absence, 6. Leave Without Pay).

2. Employees who are sick and whose eligible family members are sick may be entitled to leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) under certain circumstances. The FMLA entitles eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a designated 12-month leave year for specified family and medical reasons. Employees on FMLA leave are entitled to the continuation of group health insurance coverage under the same conditions as coverage would have been provided if the employee had been continuously employed during the leave period.

G. PRIVACY

Pursuant to university policy, information entrusted to the Human Resources Office's custody regarding an employee is considered confidential. The University will not share the names of individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19 unless otherwise required by law to do so.

H. EFFECTIVE DATE

This policy shall be effective July 1, 2020, and shall remain in effect at the discretion of the University President. Human Resources may update this policy as conditions change.