COVID Sick Leave Ends Sept. 30

In mid-February, our union learned that OHSU was considering ending employees’ COVID sick-leave (COV1) banks at the end of March. In March, OHSU Labor Relations informed us of the employer’s intention to end the COV1 banks as of Thursday, June 30, but advised that the situation with COVID-19 would be monitored and the decision revisited if needed. With COVID-19 cases rising (roughly 1,400 cases per day in Oregon at the beginning of the month), OHSU has decided to extend the availability of COV1 hours through September. Barring any new concerns about the pandemic, COVID sick leave will go away as of Tuesday, September 30. 

Delaying the termination of the COV1 hours until fall was the right thing to do, and we are glad management made this decision! That said, we wish OHSU would take it a step further and maintain the COV1 hours until the pandemic is over.

Better yet, management could agree to our union’s proposed increase to our members’ sick-leave accruals, which haven’t increased since 1998 — 24 years! Workers shouldn’t have to worry about losing their jobs due to illness or low sick-leave banks because they are working during an ongoing pandemic. Our sick-leave proposal is an investment in OHSU’s workforce and management would be wise to agree to it.

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