COSAM News Articles 2020 May Message from Dean Giordano - May 1, 2020

Message from Dean Giordano - May 1, 2020

Published: 05/01/2020

To all faculty, staff, and students in COSAM,

Earlier this week the President and Provost announced that the operational modifications previously planned through May 9 will be extended through June 30. In most cases the way that we are currently working will simply continue until the end of June. However, there are a few changes that you should be aware of, due in part to recent legislation of the U.S. Congress aimed at mitigating the effects of the coronavirus.

There is a complete explanation of how faculty, staff, and students are expected to carry out their work at

https://ocm.auburn.edu/news/coronavirus/updates/20200427-extend-alt-ops.php?ref=coronavirus

but I think it is worthwhile to summarize the main points.

All employees who can perform their job responsibilities remotely and have been approved to do so by their supervisor should continue to do so. If you have been performing some or all of your work on campus and feel safe doing so, you should continue working in that way.

If you are not able to work remotely due to a COVID-19 virus-related issue (and that issue may be health-related or involve child- or family-care needs), please do not hesitate to contact COSAM HR to find out about FFRCA and FMLA+ benefits. These are new benefit options created by laws that have been recently passed.

If your position requires that you perform some or all of your duties on campus and you do not feel comfortable being on campus, please discuss this with your supervisor or COSAM HR. If remote work is impossible, accrued vacation or sick leave may be used for any non-working hours.

Graduate student workers, including those engaged in research, should contact their supervisor to determine if they should continue to work either on-campus or remotely. The campus is still open for research activities, but all research should respect social distancing.

For hourly employees (TES, Undergraduate Employees, Part and Full-time Staff, etc.), after May 9 all hourly employees will no longer receive an averaged auto pay every pay period. Your pay will be determined by the hours you actually work.

All undergraduate student employees must be approved by their supervisor for essential work to be assigned from their supervisor before clocking-in remotely or on-campus.

I understand that the situation until June 30 is a little complicated. If you have questions, please send email to COSAM's HR team for guidance (Stephanie Woodley woodlsc@auburn.edu, Katherine Calloway ksc0013@auburn.edu and Kallan Berry bowmakm@auburn.edu). The goal is for Auburn University to continue to satisfy its mission while keeping all of us safe.

Thanks,

Nick