December 4, 2020
To: University faculty, staff, and administrators
From: The President’s Cabinet
Subject: Coronavirus response — New California “Regional Stay At Home Order” and remote work except for essential functions
Yesterday, the governor of California issued a new order to go into effect on Saturday, December 5. The order ties diminished levels of critical care services within five designated regions in the state to the implementation of additional restrictions to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
The Regional Stay At Home Order is designed to go into effect in regions that fall below 15% of their total available bed capacity in intensive care units. Our campuses fall within two of the five regions named by the governor: Southern California and the Bay Area. Currently, the State shows Southern California with 20.6% remaining capacity and the Bay Area with 25.3%.
While our campuses are not yet at the critical threshold determined by the new order, the current dangerous surge in COVID-19 predicts that we may well be very soon. Consequently, we believe it is prudent to increase our own level of caution in conducting our day-to-day operations. While many of us are still telecommuting, we do have a considerable number of people regularly working on-site, and we have seen an increase in the number of employees with an exposure risk, experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, and/or testing positive for COVID-19.
Therefore, only essential functions will be maintained on-site, and individuals conducting those functions will be notified by their supervisor. All other employees are asked to move to remote work no later than Saturday, December 5, if they haven’t already done so. If you have questions about whether you should report to work in-person or remotely, please connect with your supervisor, who is responsible for making this determination. Please also work with your supervisor if your regular tasks cannot be done remotely; you may be given assignments from other areas. (For more details on telecommuting, see below.)
All University employees will continue to be paid as normal through Thursday, December 31, even if they are unable to perform their work duties remotely. There is no need to take sick or vacation days during this period, unless you actually take vacation or are sick.
We appreciate your continued flexibility in the face of the changing circumstances presented by the pandemic, and we thank you for your diligent efforts in support of the University.
As a reminder, here are our interim COVID-19 telecommuting and timecard procedures:
For remote work supervisors should:
Telecommuting employees should:
To fill out your timecard for employment during the period through December 31, first access Ultimate Time and Attendance system through “MyRedlands” as normal (look for “HR Portal” in the highlighted section under your name; you may need to expand the box to see it).
Administrators, please complete your timecard as you would if you were working in the office.
Non-exempt staff and administrators:
Employees should continue to use the vacation code for all previously approved vacation hours during this period if they are still using the time as vacation. If vacation plans were canceled, employees should work with their supervisor to make changes to timecards as appropriate to each situation.
Other procedures for approving timecards remain unchanged. Note that the holidays will affect the deadlines for timesheet approval:
For employees without direct deposit, checks will be mailed through the United States Postal Service to the postal address on file. We encourage you to sign up for direct deposit; however, direct deposit will only begin to take effect in the next (not current) pay cycle. All employees are asked to take this opportunity to review and update contact information in UltiPro.