COVID-19 Paid Leave

Amendments approved by the Library Board, September 20, 2022
COVID-19 Paid Leave Policy PDF

The Purpose of this policy is to promote the health of the library employee, their co-workers, and their families by helping them make the decision to avoid the library when they or their dependents are quarantined/isolated or when they or their dependents have symptoms and are awaiting test results. This policy is intended to be a “short-term” policy and will be reviewed intermittently by the Board to determine its necessity.
Effective Date: January 1, 2021

Eligibility

All employees unable to work (or telework) due to one of the following reasons for leave:

1. The employee is subject to a quarantine or isolation order issued by a government authority related to COVID-19.
2. The employee has been advised by a health-care provider to self-quarantine due to concerns related to COVID-19.
3. The employee or another person in their household is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and seeking a medical diagnosis.
4. The employee is caring for a dependent who is subject to either number 1 or 2 above.
5. The employee is caring for their child if the school or place of care for the child has been closed or the childcare provider is unavailable due to COVID-19 precautions.
6. The employee is experiencing side-effects from a COVID-19 vaccination.

Amount and Reasons for Leave

• All eligible full-time employees will have up to 105 hours (14 days) paid leave, annually, available to use for a qualifying reason listed in items 1-5 above.
• Hours for part-time employees will be calculated based on the average number of hours worked in a 14-day period. Hours of paid leave are calculated based on the number of hours an employee is normally scheduled to work. If the hours are unknown, or if the part-time schedule varies, a six-month average can be used to calculate the average daily hours.
• Employees taking leave for the reason listed in item 6 will be granted a sufficient period of time, not to exceed (1) work shift.

Amount of Pay

• Leave will be paid at the employee’s regular rate of pay for reasons 1-4, and 6.
• Employees taking leave for reason 5 will be compensated at two-thirds of their regular rate of pay, subject to the following caps. Pay will not exceed: $200 per day and $2,000 in total per employee for leave taken for reason 5 above.

Interaction with Other Paid Leave

The employee may use leave under this policy before using any other accrued paid time off for the qualified reasons stated above. Use of this leave shall not have any impact on an employee’s rate of pay or other terms/conditions of employment.

Notice and Documentation Required

When requesting COVID-19 paid leave, employees are required to provide the following (in writing)
as soon as practicable:

• Name, Date(s) for requested leave, statement of the COVID-19 related reason the employee is requesting leave as well as written support for such reason; and a statement that they are unable to work or telework because of the above reason.
• If the employee is requesting leave due to a quarantine, the employee must also include: the name of the government entity that issued the order or the healthcare professional advising self-quarantine; and if the person subject to quarantine or advised to self-quarantine is not the employee, that person’s name and relationship to the employee.
• If an employee has tested positive for COVID-19, then the employee must submit documentation from a licensed medical provider or testing facility attesting that the employee has tested positive for COVID-19. If an over the counter “home” COVID test was positive, the employee must write the date of the positive test on the test strip and submit a picture of the positive test showing the date to the library.
• If the leave request is based on school closing or child-care unavailability, the statement from the employee should include: the name and age of the child (or children) to be cared for; the name of the school that has closed or place of care that is unavailable; and a statement that no other suitable person is available to care for their child (children). If the request is based on the employee’s inability to work or telework because of a need to provide care for a child older than fourteen, the employee should also include a statement that special circumstances exist requiring the employee to provide care.

Carryover

Any unused paid leave under this policy will not carry over to the next year or be paid out to employees. Eligible hours will reset each fiscal year.

Intermittent or Reduced Schedule Leave

In most circumstances, paid leave must be taken in full-day increments. It cannot be taken intermittently if the leave is being taken because:

1. The employee is subject to a quarantine or isolation order issued by a government authority related to COVID-19.
2. The employee or another person in their household has been advised by a health-care provider to self-quarantine due to concerns related to COVID-19.
3. The employee is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and seeking a medical diagnosis.
4. The employee is caring for a dependent who is subject to either number 1 or 2 above.

Exceptions

• Employees may take leave on a reduced schedule for the above reasons if they are able to, and want to, telework, with the agreement of the Library. Unless the employee is teleworking, once the employee begins taking leave for one or more of these qualifying reasons, the employee must continue to take such leave each day until the employee either (1) uses the full amount ofCOVID-19 paid leave or (2) no longer has a qualifying reason for taking COVID-19 paid leave.
• The employee may take such leave intermittently, if the employee wants to, with the agreement of the Library, if the employee is taking emergency paid sick leave to care for the employee’s child whose school or place of care is closed, or whose child care provider is unavailable for COVID-19 related reasons.

Job Protection

Employees who take COVID-19 Paid Leave will not be retaliated against or discharged for doing so.

Extenuating Circumstances

The Board of Trustees has the collective authority to grant individual modifications to this policy in the case of extenuating circumstances. If requesting an individual modification to the policy, employees should provide written notice to the library director who will review (with the Board) such requests on a case-by-case basis. Accepting an extenuating circumstances claim is at the discretion of the Board of Trustees and the library Director.

Policy History

Draft Presented to Service Committee January 30, 2021, for discussion at the February 4, 2021 Service Committee Meeting, revised with committee input.
Draft 2 Presented to Library Board, February 16, 2021
Draft 3 Presented to the Service Committee, March 4, 2021
Draft 4- Revised with Board Feedback (via Google Docs), March 12, 2021
Approved March 16, 2021, by the Library Board (retroactive date, January 1, 2021)
Draft Revisions, September 6, 2022
Service Committee Approved, September 14, 2022
Amendments approved by the Library Board, September 20, 2022