Universities revive covid-19 leave

UA offering 80 hours of paid time off related to virus

FAYETTEVILLE — Faculty and staff members at the largest public universities in the state once again have some form of paid covid-19 leave this fall, although as early as this month it wasn’t clear that such paid time would be offered.

The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville is among public universities offering 80 hours of paid covid-19 leave.

“That’s huge,” said Trish Watkins, chairman of UA’s staff senate.

Watkins said the leave is “very meaningful” for workers with just a year or two of experience at the university. Such recent hires have yet to accrue as much sick time as longtime UA employees, so without paid covid-19 leave they’d likely end up going unpaid for several days if sickened or in quarantine, Watkins said.

Health experts have described paid leave as a way for employers to encourage sick employees to stay home during the pandemic.

“Employers are encouraged to implement flexible, non-punitive paid sick leave and supportive policies and practices as part of a comprehensive approach to prevent and reduce transmission among employees,” the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has previously stated on its covid-19 website.

No uniform set of paid covid-19 sick pay policies exist for workers in the U.S. or Arkansas, however, and policies differ even among public universities in Arkansas.

UA spokesman Mark Rushing said Tuesday that since April 1 of last year, UA has approved 26,650 hours of paid covid-19 leave either through its policy or via

what’s known as the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act, a law that put in place certain requirements for many employers last year, including paid covid-19 leave.

The hours figure works out to be about 3,331 workdays. UA employs approximately 4,200 faculty and fulltime staff members, according to its website.

But the paid covid-19 leave is considered cumulatively, even as the pandemic stretches on. UA’s website states that workers “in no case may use a combined total of more than 80 hours” going back to 2020. An 80-hour “maximum” limit on paid sick leave is common at public universities in Arkansas.

Covid-19 cases peaked early in the fall semester of last year, though the current semester began earlier this month amid statewide highs in covid-19 hospitalizations. Active infections at UA and on some other college campuses have increased but so far remain well below peak levels from a year ago, according to data from colleges and the state Health Department.

Unlike last year, covid-19 vaccines are available, and UA and other colleges are encouraging vaccinations. This fall has marked a return to a crowded campus, as UA and some other large universities have significantly increased the amount of in-person instruction compared with a year earlier.

The federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act requirements ended with the new year. But tax credits for certain employers — including many governmental employers — to cover the costs of paid covid-19 leave are available through September, according to information posted on the IRS website.

PAID LEAVE SUSPENDED

Earlier in the summer, an updated state government policy led to the University of Arkansas System offering paid covid-19 leave after such leave was briefly suspended, according to email records provided by the UA System under the state’s public disclosure law.

“In July I shared that the University would suspend the additional COVID paid leave program effective August 1st,” Steve Wood, the UA System’s associate vice president for benefits and risk management services, wrote in an Aug. 9 email to top human resource officials at various UA System campuses and units.

“We have since learned that the State has extended the program, providing the University with opportunity to continue. The University leave program will be extended retroactively from August 1st,” Wood wrote.

The state’s covid-19 leave policy, as updated in July, says that if remote work is “not possible,” then state employees qualify for 80 hours of “Director’s Authorized Leave.” The policy is said to apply to employees testing positive for covid-19, those exposed to someone with covid-19, and those who have covid-19 symptoms.

“Once the eighty (80) hours of Director’s Authorized Leave is exhausted, then State employees must use their accrued leave,” the July update to state policy states.

Wood’s email to human resource managers included the state policy update and noted that covid-19 “leave guidelines will be modified, suspended or ended as necessary to meet changing needs and regulations of the current environment.”

Rushing, when asked what source of funds will be used to cover costs associated with paid covid-19 leave, said it wasn’t clear.

Paid covid-19 leave “will be a departmental expense just like salary,” Rushing said.

Under the federal American Rescue Plan, as well as earlier relief packages since the pandemic began, UA and other universities in the state have received millions in coronavirus relief through what’s called the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund, sometimes referred to as HEERF.

“There could be the potential, if approved, for the university’s HEERF funds to help departments cover these expenses, but that has not been determined at this time,” Rushing said.

Even if an individual avoids hospitalization or a lengthy illness, a covid-19 infection could still require a long absence if remote work isn’t an option.

The isolation period for covid-19 is considered 10 days from when symptoms first appeared. Recommendations from UA call for a 14-day quarantine for unvaccinated or partially vaccinated individuals exposed as a “close contact” to someone with covid-19. “Close contact” is considered being within six feet for 15 or more cumulative minutes over a 24-hour period, according to UA’s procedures posted online.

In terms of the coronavirus — other work conditions must also apply — UA employees who need to quarantine or who have coronavirus symptoms while seeking a diagnosis may qualify for the paid leave, according to university policy.

Employees whose children are required to quarantine or isolate can also apply for the paid covid-19 leave, UA spokesman Mark Rushing said.

Certain work circumstances must also be met. The policy states that paid leave is for workers too sick to work from home or who “have a job in which working from home is not possible.”

OTHER SCHOOLS

Despite all being state-supported institutions, differences exist between stated paid covid-19 polices at different public universities in Arkansas.

Arkansas State University just Wednesday announced that employees can access covid-19 leave “during the upcoming fiscal year.”

Lori Winn, the Jonesboro university’s assistant vice chancellor for human resources, stated in a message to the campus that the ASU System had just that day approved member campuses to offer specific covid-19 related leave.

“The goal of the campus policy is to keep employees safe and healthy while ensuring that all campus services remain operational,” states the university’s website.

The ASU policy makes clear that employees not authorized for remote work “may access up to a total of 80 hours of COVID-19 leave,” and that after this leave is used up, “employees shall use accrued leave to cover the additional time away from work.”

However, the University of Central Arkansas, in documents posted on its website, states that paid covid-19 leave is a “leave of last resort” and that it is available “if the employee is unable to work or telework and has exhausted their leave time.”

The amount is the same, up to 80 hours, but the Conway campus this fall is offering two tiers of paid covid-19 leave: a higher-paying tier for sick or exposed workers, and a lower-paying tier for workers providing care to someone subject to quarantine.

The higher-paying tier at UCA provides 100% of a worker’s pay rate, capped at $511 per day, which is the same daily limit in place at UA.

But the lower-paying tier of covid-19 leave — also available to UCA workers when their children’s school or child care provider is closed because of covid-19 — provides daily pay at two-thirds of a worker’s pay rate, capped at $200 per day.

Last year, the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act had these same tiers for sick pay. It’s unclear if any other public universities are making such a distinction this fall.

The UCA paid covid-19 leave procedure is in effect from Aug. 13 through Dec. 13, according to an “Emergency Paid Sick Leave Request Form” document on the UCA website.

Arkansas Tech University in Russellville on its website states that employees may access covid-19 sick pay until Sept. 30, or until 80 hours of the covid-19 pay is exhausted.