COVID-19 Update #2

You are very likely aware of the post put out by Dr. Jacobs on OHSU Now last week, “The Why: People are our priority.” We applaud OHSU’s stated commitment to:

• Maintain a full workforce with full pay and benefits for the duration of any modification in operations, through June 30.

• Provide up to 14 days of sick leave for those who have exhausted their sick time and become ill prior to June 30.

• Offer a $1,000,000 fund for employees facing extreme financial hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, available through July 30.

We recognize that there are still quite a few questions from our represented employees about how the above will be applied. We have confirmed with HR that the “maintain a full workforce” commitment means that those who aren’t (a) critical-function employees who must report to work or (b) non-critical-function employees who are able to telework from home will receive pay and benefits until modified operations ends or June 30, whichever comes first. Questions about the specifics of OHSU’s commitment are probably best addressed by emailing COVID-19@ohsu.edu.

We also recognized that our members are wondering about other scenarios that aren't covered in OHSU’s announcement. Local 328 and OHSU have also been in negotiations for several days, working on a letter of agreement that will cover a variety of COVID-19 concerns, including:

• Telecommuting options

• VAC accrual caps

• Discipline for sick time and tardiness

• Paid leave after coronavirus exposure

• Exhaustion of FMLA/OFLA

• Illness due to coronavirus

• Staff redeployment

While we don’t yet have a signed LOA, at the time of this writing we agree on the majority of issues and at this point are working on finalizing the specifics on a few others. As soon as an agreement is reached, the LOA will be sent to our executive board for expedited review and approval. We’ll let you know more as soon as possible. Please let us know if you have questions in the meantime.