Work-from-home policy continues while state and county guidance evolves; face coverings required within six feet of others

May 12, 2020

To:  Faculty, staff, and administrators
From:  Cory Nomura, Senior Vice President, Finance and Administration, and Jeremy Hammond, Director of Human Resources
Subject:  Work-from-home policy continues while state and county guidance evolves; face coverings required within six feet of others

During the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, the University of Redlands is committed to acting with the health and safety of our community members as our highest priority, in step with guidance from California and local county authorities. Today, we write to report several new developments, while reiterating our continued work-from-home policy and asking employees to use face coverings when within six feet of others.

With the current stay-at-home order still in place, the State of California began a gradual move into stage 2 of its pandemic Resilience Roadmap last Friday, May 8, allowing lower-risk workplaces to reopen, such as curbside pickup for bookstores. In general, offices remain closed in favor of telecommuting.

For University operations, we continue to ask that only personnel designated as essential report to work; all other faculty, staff, and administrators should continue to work from home until further notice.

On the county level, San Bernardino and Riverside Counties — home to the U of R Redlands, Riverside, Rancho Cucamonga, and Temecula campuses — no longer require face coverings when leaving your residence. However, the counties strongly urge everyone to continue wearing face coverings in public to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus, and businesses may still require face coverings for customers and employees. Marin and Orange Counties also continue to recommend the use of face coverings.

Under a San Diego County ordinance effective May 10, people must have a face covering when going out in public and must wear it when “in a business or within six feet of another person who is not a member of their family or household.” Exceptions include children under two and those with a medical or mental health condition that hinders compliance.

Los Angeles County, which includes the U of R Burbank campus, continues to require anyone interacting with others who are not members of their households to wear face coverings.

As we continue to examine university-wide policies for return to work based on the available research, the University will require all faculty, staff, and administrators to wear face coverings when within six feet of others.

For more information on recent guidance, see the Los AngelesMarinOrange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Diego County websites, as well as information from the State of California. See also the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website for recommendations on how to protect yourself and others.

As previously noted, we plan to announce decisions about a possible return to campus for students and employees by mid-June. When we do reopen our campuses, we aim to do so in a flexible way to help accommodate the needs of our employees. As a reminder, all employees will be paid in full until Sunday, May 31; we will provide another update on pay before the end of the month.