An announcement from the OA Council. In case you’re new, the OAs are the people who keep the University from collapsing into chaos:
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected]
Sent: Thursday, March 26, 2020 4:27 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: oanews: OA Council COVID-19 updates & outreach
Good afternoon,
The members of the Officer of Administration Council are reaching out to share resources with you during this unprecedented disruption to University of Oregon operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. More than ever, we truly are all in this together—whether you are essential staff still at work on an eerily quiet campus, working from home while juggling child care and other family obligations, or simply struggling with the ways our work lives have shifted so dramatically, the OA Council is here to listen to your concerns and share them with leadership. If you have questions or thoughts that you want to share with us, please reach out to us at [email protected].
OA Council leadership met last Friday with President Schill, Provost Phillips, VPFA Jamie Moffitt, CHRO Mark Schmelz, and Senior Director of ELR Missy Matella. We asked them how the COVID-19 pandemic and its financial impact to the university will affect OAs, shared with them concerns about supervision of remote workers, and asked how the OA Council can help with response and recovery efforts.
Because of the fast-moving changes to operations as we define and adjust to a new normal, some of our questions did not yet have answers; since the university does not yet know what relief will be coming from the federal or state governments, they do not know whether or how OAs will be affected. But one message was clear: all efforts, including the hiring freeze enacted Thursday March 19, have been and will be aimed at keeping current University of Oregon workers employed.
We have to be realistic about the financial and operational picture:
This will be difficult. This pandemic is changing not only how our university operates now, but how all universities will fare in the future. Changes will be felt not just in higher education, but in all sectors—technology, healthcare, K-12 education, food and beverage, transportation, and on and on. We say this not to be pessimistic, but to encourage OAs to do what we’re best at—thinking creatively in response to challenges, keeping the UO running in the face of uncertainty, and being in community when the chips are down.
To that end, we are planning a virtual OA Council Open Session in spring term. The topic is TBD depending on how things evolve, and we’ll announce the date once we’ve decided which virtual platform can host a gathering of our size.
Additionally, we have compiled some OA-specific resources to help you through these unusual circumstances below.
Supervisor resources from UO Human Resources:
Supervisor FAQ:
https://hr.uoregon.edu/programs-services/covid-19-resources/covid-19-frequently-asked-questions#supervisor
Flexible Work Guidance:
https://hr.uoregon.edu/employee-labor-relations/policies-guidance-reporting/flexible-arrangements-work-life-guidance
Flexible Work Procedure:
https://hr.uoregon.edu/employee-labor-relations/employment-policies/flexible-work-policy/flexible-work-procedure.pdf
Flexible Work Agreement Forms:
https://hr.uoregon.edu/employee-labor-relations/policies-guidance-reporting/flexible-arrangements-work-life-guidance-0
Employee Leave Options (scroll down to see links for each employee
group):
https://hr.uoregon.edu/programs-services/covid-19-resources/covid-19-employee-leave-options
Leave options:
Officers of Administration Leave Options:
https://hr.uoregon.edu/programs-services/covid-19-resources/employee-leave-options/covid-19-officers-administration-leave
https://hr.uoregon.edu/benefits/employee-leaves/temporary-fmlaofla-expansion-due-school-closure
Professional development resources:
MyTrack Learning Module Resources:
https://hr.uoregon.edu/learning-development/mytrack-learning-module
Learning and Development Online Resources:
https://hr.uoregon.edu/learning-development/learning-development-online-opportunities
And in case you are really new, classified employees also keep the University from collapsing into chaos…
Many essential staff still at work on an eerily quiet campus could possibly qualify for hazardpay.
https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/wages/hazardpay
Market of Choice gave all their cashiers a $2 an hour “hazard pay” increase last week.