Managing employee illnesses and sick time in fall 2021
The following information was sent to all faculty and staff via email on Aug. 2.
Employees who are ill should continue to follow pre-COVID protocols for managing illness. If you are ill and unable to work, you are expected to advise your supervisor, especially if the illness will result in absence from work.
Please note that, as before, absences of more than four days may require a doctor’s note if requested by the Office of Human Resources, Diversity & Inclusion (HRDI) or Benefits. To ensure confidentiality and proper record keeping, please do not provide doctor’s notes or other medical documentation to your supervisor. Instead, please provide medical documentation to Benefits at benefits@newpaltz.edu or by dropping off forms at the Benefits Office, HAB 603.
Vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals who experience COVID-19 symptoms or are confirmed to have been exposed to COVID-19 should report their status to Benefits. There are two ways to do so:
By calling Benefits directly at 845-257-3171 to report your status, OR
By reporting your symptoms/exposure through the COVID-19 Screening at newpaltz.edu (this will notify HRDI).
Please note: Fully vaccinated individuals no longer automatically see the Screening when they log into my.newpaltz.edu, but they can still voluntarily complete the Screening by clicking “View your COVID-19 profile,” then choosing the option to Complete a Screening.
Employees who report symptoms or exposure will be advised to report their situation to their local department of health or to their doctor, and to follow instructions provided. Should you be instructed to isolate or quarantine, access to quarantine time without charges to accruals (as explained below) will require documentation.
Under guidance issued in March 2020 by the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations (GOER), employees are provided with up to 14 days of paid sick leave, without charge to accruals, when subjected to a mandatory or precautionary order of quarantine or isolation. A mandatory or precautionary order of quarantine or isolation may come from a Public Health Officer (for example, a County or City Department of Health or a written statement from the individual’s attending physician or local health officer attesting to the quarantine and the necessity of the absence).
Should an individual need to remain quarantined or isolated, the second and third periods of paid sick leave will require a positive COVID-19 test in addition to an order of quarantine or isolation. Employees who choose not to obtain a test will be required to charge their sick accruals for absences.
Unvaccinated Employees
Unvaccinated employees will be required to test weekly AND complete daily screenings.
Employees are reminded that if you are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms or are confirmed to have been exposed to COVID-19, you are not to test on campus. Instead, please contact your doctor or local health department and follow instructions regarding isolation or quarantine, consider scheduling a test if available, and contact Benefits so that we can support you and any absence that may result.
In consultation with a doctor or health official, a negative test may shorten or eliminate the isolation period and allow an employee to return to campus if scheduled to do so.
Vaccinated Employees
Vaccinated employees who experience COVID-19 symptoms are advised to contact their doctor or local health department and follow instructions. Consider obtaining a test if available, and contact Benefits so that we can support you and any absence that may result. Vaccinated employees who provide Benefits with proof of a negative test can resume work on campus if scheduled to do so.
Leave with full pay, without charge to credits, terminates when an order for quarantine or isolation is lifted. An employee may not receive quarantine leave if they are absent from work to care for another person who has been quarantined. Family sick leave, if available, may be used for these cases.
Employees with questions about the use and application of quarantine leave should contact the Benefits Office at benefits@newpalz.edu.