Coronavirus FAQs

The Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) is leading an HR workgroup that has broad campus representation and uses that feedback during daily meetings with campus leaders, while ensuring that HR policies and procedures address needs as the situation changes. The CHRO also coordinates daily with HR leaders to ensure that the information they are learning from KU stakeholders is considered by leadership during the decision making process.

COVID-19, short for "Coronavirus disease 2019," is the official name given by the World Health Organization to the disease caused by this newly identified coronavirus.

The State of Kansas Employee Assistance Program (EAP) provides resources for benefits-eligible employees, their family members living in the same household or dependent children to provide immediate care, concern, and assistance about issues including the COVID-19 situation. You can call toll-free or log on to connect directly with Guidance Consultants about the issue or to consult articles, podcasts, videos or other helpful tools. These services are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can call 1-888-275-1205 (option 1), go online at guidanceresources.com, or use the App: GuidanceNow. Web ID: SOKEAP. The Guidance Consultants can provide short-term counseling, advice, and referrals from licensed professionals. Specific COVID-19 resources can be accessed by clicking the alerts link on the right side of the page, after log in to the guidance resources website.

Policies and information is available at:

• Sick Leave Policy
• Vacation Leave Policy
• Telecommuting Policy (Alternate Work Location)
• Shared Leave Policy
• Family Medical Leave Policy (FMLA)
• KU Coronavirus (website) 
• Human Resource Management Coronavirus (website) 
• State of Kansas Department of Health and Environment Resource Site (website)
• Center for Disease Control Coronavirus (website)
• Reporting Guidelines for Time and Absence for COVID-19 (PDF)
• IT Remote Work Guide

1. Stay home and notify your supervisor.
2. Call ahead to your health care provider before you go in person, or contact the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department at 785-843-3060. You can also contact the Kansas Department of Health and Environment COVID-19 Resource Center at 866-534-3463.

First, and most importantly, follow the guidance provided by the health care provider that administered the test or follow this guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If your testing was done at Watkins Health Services, you will be notified by Watkins if your test is positive. The Lawrence Douglas County Health Department also will be notified of this result by the lab performing the test.

• If you have not been working on campus, you do not have to contact anyone else at KU.
• If you are currently working on campus, inform your Supervisor that you cannot work due to illness. You do not have to identify the illness, but you are encouraged to do so.

Call your health care provider or your local health department and follow their guidance. If you have symptoms of COVID-19 illness, testing is ideal for all symptomatic faculty and staff to aid in contact tracing and guidance for co-workers. Faculty and staff can get testing done at Watkins Health Services. If you do not get tested, you need to isolate until symptom free for three days, and a minimum of one week from the start of your symptoms. Notify your Supervisor that you cannot work due to illness and the time period you expect to be out. You do not have to identify the suspected illness, but you are encouraged to do so.

Social distancing is designed to limit the spread of a disease by reducing the opportunities for close contact between people. Strategies include using conference calls and video conferencing in place of face-to-face meetings, avoiding unnecessary travel, and reinforcing handwashing and other common-sense precautions.

If you are among a group of people where anyone appears to be ill or may have had contact with a person diagnosed with COVID-19, try to keep a distance of six feet from one another.

If you have a concern about an employee who appears sick, speak to your supervisor, a department leader or HRM.

The safety and well-being of our employees is the most important issue and prompt identification and isolation of potentially infectious individuals is a critical step in protecting other employees and the campus community. Employees are encouraged to self-monitor for signs and symptoms of COVID-19 if they suspect possible exposure. Where appropriate, people who have signs or symptoms of COVID-19 should be sent home immediately. Additionally, supervisors should emphasize to employees the importance of staying home when sick.

Employees known to be exposed to an individual diagnosed with coronavirus will be notified that a case of COVID-19 has been confirmed, but the Americans with Disabilities Act protects the identity and medical information of people with communicable diseases.

On March 13, 2020 Governor Kelley provided a memorandum with SEHP updates related to the Coronavirus. These updates have been extended through July 31, 2020. Employees covered under the SEHP will receive an email from the SEHP if any changes occur.

If supervisors and/or employees encounter situations regarding the welfare of an employee, feel uncertain about future action, or if an employee has shared in confidence thoughts of self-harm or harm to others, contact the ADA Resource Center for Equity and Accessibility (accessiblity@ku.edu, 785-864-748) or Employee Relations (hrdept@ku.edu, 785-864-494).

Crises like COVID-19 impact the well-being of all employees. Some individuals with mental health diagnoses may experience an increase in symptoms, and other individuals experience a new mental health diagnosis, such as anxiety or depression as a result of COVID-19.

A supervisor may be the first individual to recognize that an employee needs help. The list below provides some examples of behaviors that may indicate an employee is having a difficult time. This list is not intended to be exhaustive nor should it be used to diagnose a behavioral health issue. Only mental health professionals are qualified to provide a diagnosis.

Crying spells Withdrawal from others Neglect of responsibilities and loss of motivation Loss of interest in personal appearance Use of drugs and/or alcohol Fatigue and lack of energy Unexplained weight loss or gain Unexplained aches and pains Displaying extreme mood swing Behaving recklessly

Sleeping too much or too little Distracted or preoccupied thought processes Lengthy, ranting or threatening communication with staff, faculty, peers, and/or visitors Loss of interest in previously desired activities, hobbies, etc. Increased absence Fear of financial instability Fear of loss of employment Statements of self-harm or harm to others Changes in employee behavior

If you see an employee in need, notify your supervisor and discuss the situation. Then, if you feel comfortable:

• Reach out to the employee.
• Remain calm in your conversation with the employee.
• Ask how you can help.
• Let them know you support them.
• Listen non-judgmentally to their concerns.
• Provide resource information: Employee Assistance Program (1-888-275-1205 option #1)  and/or ADA RCEA Mental Health Resource Guide
• Follow up with the employee the following day to offer further support and ensure they have resources they need.

Essential means that your job duties must be performed in order to sustain the business continuity of the University. This may change pending new information and circumstances.

Mission Essential On-Campus

Mission essential on-campus are those we need to keep the university functional for efficient and effective repopulation when that time comes.

General categories are: Public Safety, Custodial, Maintenance, IT required to maintain our network health, Research essential including animal care and maintaining research sensitive equipment and ongoing experiments.

Mission Essential Off-Site

Mission essential employees are those whose job duties must be performed in order to sustain the business continuity of the university. In order to perform these duties off-campus, by teleworking, the employee will need to have sufficient resources at home, including the use of KU equipment. KU IT requires the use of KU computers unless the KU IT security office approves an exception. KU laptops, towers, monitors, docking stations, etc., may be moved to the employee’s telework site. The department must track equipment moving off-site.

Examples of mission essential off site duties may include teaching and support of online classes, support of the continued academic and research missions which do not require an onsite presence, student support, paying bills, creating invoices, preparing budget, legal, payroll and personnel functions, customer care and help desk support, information technology support of systems, grant preparation and proposals, etc.

If home resources are not available (i.e., the employee does not have internet) they are to be considered non-essential. If non-essential and if paid hourly, the employee’s pay is covered by the use of the Time Reporting Code COV19 in their timesheet. See time reporting guidelines.

There may be times an employee on Essential teleworking will not be able to telework based on the availability of work or the telework environment.  During such times, the hourly employees pay is covered by the use of the Time Reporting Code COV19 in their timesheet.

Salaried employees will continue to be paid. Hourly employees will be paid based on the regular and COV19 time reported.

Non-Essential

Those employees who tasks are not considered to be mission essential and whose tasks cannot be performed off-site. This may also include essential on-campus employees who are COVID-19 high risk and those essential employees who do not have sufficient resources to telework (i.e., do not have internet).

Time for hourly employees who do not work during this time will be reported as COV19 in the timesheet so the employee can continue to be paid. See time reporting guidelines.

Designations are being determined the week of March 16. Supervisors or Department leaders will notify their employees of their designations. This process is normally associated with weather-related decisions but is being implemented at this time as a preparatory measure because the conditions will likely continue to evolve.

No, the focus and expected duration of COVID-19 is very different. For inclement weather the situation is short-term and weather essential staff are necessary for snow/ice removal to make campus safe and accessible to the students, employees and the public. The COVID-19 situation is expected to be for a longer duration and the University will need to continue operating as smoothly as possible. In the case of COVID-19, our focus is on not spreading the virus, providing required services and cleaning the campus.

University administrators and HRM will communicate via email or websites if essential designations are being invoked at a University Level. Updates will be posted on the KU coronavirus site and the Human Resources site.

Reporting to campus will be dependent upon your job duties. If your duties involve the maintenance or upkeep of the campus location, then it is very likely you will be required to report to campus to perform your duties. If your duties are teaching or assisting with a class online, the goal of the University is for you to be able to teach remotely from your home utilizing tools, if possible, provided by Information Technology. If your job includes administrative duties, i.e. paying bills, preparing budget, payroll duties, supporting departmental staff, the preference is that you work from home. KU computing equipment should be used to perform these duties.

No employee should be told to report to campus unless their job requires performing a critical on-campus function. If you have been asked to report to campus and have not been designated as essential (or don’t know if are essential), please contact Employee Relations at hrdept@ku.edu or 785-864-4946.

This would be considered an employee request for use of personal leave (vacation, discretionary day, compensatory time). The request would be made to the supervisor to approve or deny. (This does not qualify as COVID-19 covered time and is treated as a regular leave request.)

KU has worked diligently to limit the on-campus footprint of employees while sustaining our mission essential functions. The University is working with students to move as many as possible out of campus housing. In addition, the University has instructed those employees who are not required to be on campus to work from home. With far fewer individuals on campus the chance of coming in contact with someone is significantly reduced. Those on campus are required to keep the specified distance and follow social distancing guidelines established by the CDC.

Yes. To date, counties are not restricting movement. This is a fluid situation where additional steps might be necessary to slow the spread of the virus and keep people safe. If movement is restricted, KU will consider providing essential employees with documentation to facilitate their travel to campus from their homes.

Just as if you are working on-campus, any leave usage should be requested of your supervisor before using. In some cases, an employee may not have enough duties that can be performed at home so the employee and supervisor should discuss reduced work schedules. If you have on-campus essential job functions, opportunities to use leave will be limited during the time COVID-19 is still active and spreading.

Please discuss with your supervisor. This may be dependent upon your job duties and type of work, home resources such as availability of equipment, and internet access and accountability.

Only “essential on-campus” designated employees should be working in KU Buildings. Unit leaders should be periodically reviewing their on-campus footprint in order to ensure that KU is consistent with not just the letter of the Stay at Home Order but the spirit of the order that, in order to contain the virus, we have to keep people physically separated.

Yes, you may come to your building to pick up work related and personal items. Please note buildings are secure, if you do not have a building key, you may need to make arrangements with your supervisor. When you are on campus you need to be diligent and maintain appropriate physical distance from others you might run into.

No. The Stay at Home order is a 24/7 directive. Please abide by the directive and stay at home.

No, as buildings are being secured, you need to update your information to ensure that all of your personal items are being delivered to your home. Personal mail and items sent to campus during the Stay at Home period may be refused by campus mail staff or returned to the Postal Service or the vendor through the delivery service (FedEx, UPS, etc.).

Please work through the Procurement Office if you need to coordinate deliveries to your unit to support your work/research. Delivery services are flexible and will work with unit representatives to meet your needs, limit liability and ensure that perishable items are delivered directly to the end user.

Please take your plants home. It is not consistent with the Douglas County Stay at Home order to be coming on campus frequently to water plants.

During the COVID-19 period departments have been authorized to be make this decision. Factors to consider are type of job duties and whether they can be performed remotely and/or if the employee is considered at high risk of serious illness if infected with the virus. HRM has suspended the normal approval process and has decentralized the approval process.

This decision has been delegated to the departments and may start immediately. For at-risk employees the sooner the better.

The reason for invoking essential staffing or closing campus is for the safety of our employees and to reduce the level of interaction and risk of exposure to the virus. In addition, this allows our custodial and maintenance staff time to do deep cleaning, fogging or maintenance without the presence of staff. Please check with your department leader for approval before working on campus in this situation.

The University is not prepared to reimburse for these costs. If this prevents you from working at home, please coordinate with your supervisor to determine if it would be appropriate for you to work at your campus job site.

The University is encouraging departments to allow employees to use KU computers at home whenever possible. It does not necessarily have to be a laptop. In some cases computer towers, docking stations and monitors may be used in the home.

If an essential employee has been designated to work from home and does not have sufficient internet access, this should be discussed with the supervisor. The University is not prepared to reimburse employees for any overage or internet costs. If this prevents you from working at home, please coordinate with your supervisor to determine if it would be appropriate for you to work at your campus worksite. There may be duties the employee can perform that do not require internet access or it may be determined that the best place for the employee to work is at their on-campus work station.

The Information Technology Security Office (ITSO) strongly discourages the use of personal computers for both security and support reasons in order to keep our servers and networks secure. KU equipment should be used when working off-site. If a home computer must be used, please review the IT Remote Work Guide. In addition, an email is to be sent to the Information Technology Security Office (ITSO) (itsec-sn@ku.edu) listing who is using a home computer and what department they are working for.

Just as if you are working on-campus, any leave usage should be requested of your supervisor before using. In some cases, an employee may not have enough duties that can be performed at home so the employee and supervisor should discuss reduced work schedules. If you have on-campus essential job functions, opportunities to use leave will be limited during the time COVID-19 is still active and spreading.

Find information on the HRM Teleworking page

• Be sure you have access to your passwords.
• If you are not using your office computer, list your browser favorites/bookmarks/web links in preparation to working remotely.
• If a home computer must be used, please review the IT Remote Work Guide.
• You may want to save your Resource/Desk manuals in OneDrive for Business so that you can access them remotely.
• You may need KU Anywhere VPN (Virtual Private Network) to access the following University systems: https://remote.ku.edu/vpn-updates
  • Full client ImageNow
  • Network drive access
  • HR/Pay and Enroll and Pay Test & Admin sites (only used by the systems teams)
  • DEMIS
• KU Anywhere VPN is not needed to access the following University systems:
  • KU Email
  • Office 365/Sharepoint (MyCommunity)
  • Blackboard
  • HR/Pay (Human Resource & Payroll)
  • MyTalent
  • Enroll & Pay (Campus Solutions)
  • OAC (Oracle Analytics Cloud)
  • FITC (Financials in the Cloud)
  • PBCS (Planning and Budget Cloud System)
  • PPM (Project Planning Module)
  • Concur
  • Content Management System
  • One Drive for Business
  • Microsoft Teams

More information will follow if the University does suspend operations or closes. Various options may be provided, including employees teleworking (working from home). Check the Time and Absence COVID-19 reporting guidelines (PDF) for more details.

No. You should be not be impacted and will continue with your current pay status.

Employees in a non-work status approved by their supervisor may be put on paid Time Reporting Code of COV19 Reference. Check the Time and Absence COVID-19 reporting guidelines (PDF) for more details.

FFCRA expires 12/31/2020
Employees who are unable to return to campus due to COVID-19 may be eligible for paid leave provided under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). Once an employee completes the COVID-19 leave request form, Human Resources Management will determine their eligibility. Learn more about requesting COVID-19 Leave.
 

Yes, in order to accurately pay employees, validation and approval of time and absences is required to meet usual audit standards. If a supervisor does not have access to approve in HR/Pay, either web or mobile, a delegation should be made to someone who can validate and approve. The delegation document is linked here. Supervisors should review the Time and Absence COVID-19 reporting guidelines (PDF).

Yes, Check the Time and Absence COVID-19 reporting guidelines (PDF).  

Coronavirus COVID-19 Absence Reporting email.

Student workloads when classes are not in session are determined by supervisors and departments. Since the week of March 15 is an extension of Spring Break, student employees may work up to 40 hours, keeping in mind these additional hours count toward ACA eligibility.

During the period of COVID-19 protocols, instructor led or in-person trainings will now be done online or rescheduled to a later date.

HRM is in the process of working to make that event an online one. Details are still being sorted out, but please stay tuned for updates. Emails will be sent with more information as more is known.

In response to COVID-19, hiring departments/units and search committees are to move to an online format through supported video conferencing (Zoom, Skype, etc.). As a result, the search committee should notify candidates as soon as possible, rescheduling the interview in an online format. For assistance please contact employ@ku.edu.

In-person interviews are not to be conducted with out-of-town or local candidates at this time.  If it is critical for the candidate to come to campus to complete the interview process, the interview and any related travel arrangements will need to be rescheduled.  Contact HRM at employ@ku.edu for guidance or visit the HRM website for more information.  If you have questions about modifying travel arrangements, please reach out to your department/unit or Shared Service Center representative.

Contact HRM for guidance at employ@ku.edu. HRM will work with search committees faced with this issue on a case-by-case basis.

Although it is generally advised to make the interview process as consistent as possible for all candidates, in response to COVID-19, it is important to take measures to prevent the spread of the virus. As a result it is recommended for searches that need to switch mid-process to online, that search committees keep as many elements of the process as consistent as possible.

Search committee members may still choose to meet in a video-enabled conference room for the remote interview or may decide that members will also participate remotely. Individuals who have been exposed to the virus, who potentially may have been exposed, who have a chronic health condition or who are ill should only participate remotely. It is encouraged to have as many members participate in the interviews as possible in order to effectively make a recommendation for hire.

Yes, you can put the interview process on hold. We recommend that you contact the candidate(s) and inform them that, due to COVID-19, you are delaying interviews at this time. A specific timeline as to when in-person interviews can resume has not yet been made and will be forthcoming. Please note a delay may result in losing a top candidate. As a result, a video conferencing option should be considered before postponing a search.

Units can allow the individual to delay their start date, or look at telework options if appropriate.  Contact employ@ku.edu for assistance or if an adjustment to an offer letter may be needed.

New hires will continue to utilize the KU Onboarding system to complete most required documents. Your SSC-representative will be in touch with your candidate about the process which will be used to complete documents requiring visual verification.

Given the rapidly changing situation with regards to U.S. borders and entry/re-entry, international employees who are not U.S. citizen or U.S. permanent residents who choose to depart the U.S. should be aware that they may not be able to re-enter the U.S. for some time. If individuals do depart the U.S. and need to apply for visas at U.S. consulate abroad, they may encounter limited hours or closures for the foreseeable future. If you are in a KU sponsored immigration status (i.e. H-1B, J-1, TN, etc.) you should reach out to the ISS office for a discussion of any international travel plans and the potential implications. See additional information regarding University travel requirements and restrictions.

Scholars and researchers holding affiliate appointments should work with their unit supervisors regarding their work and unit-specific arrangements or protocols. Visit KU's coronavirus website regularly for university requirements regarding travel, health, and campus activity. If you have concerns that require you to work remotely, please reach out to your supervisor to make specific arrangements. We are committed to ensuring all community members are able to continue in their work.

COVID-19 has caused visa services to be suspended at all US embassies and consulates and certain travelers prohibited from entry to the United States.  These issues and the decisions by KU to temporarily suspend classes and research result in any offers for J-1 Visiting Scholars to be very tenuous.  Please contact the unit that extended the invitation to you for additional information and to discuss a postponement of your program start date. The earliest start date would likely be no earlier than August 15, 2020.  Petitions for an earlier date may be considered particularly for individuals who are already in the U.S. and need to transfer their SEVIS record to KU and Canadian citizens who do not need a visa to enter the U.S.  However, your inviting unit would need to make that decision and contact ISS with their reasoning.

At this point USCIS is still receiving and processing immigration cases for new initial cases and extension cases for applications such as OPT, H-1B’s, change of status applications, etc. USCIS is currently not accepting any applications with premium processing, all cases must be filed using regular processing.

USCIS has closed all field offices for in-person appointments. These are the local offices (i.e. Kansas City) not the large USCIS service centers where petitions are filed and applications are processed. The local office closures will seemingly affect in-person biometric (fingerprinting) appointments and green card interview appointments. USCIS main service centers are still operational for case processing.

No. USCIS announced on Friday, March 20th, that effective Friday, March 20th no cases may be filed using premium processing. If you have an immigration case needing to be filed by KU on your behalf or on behalf of one of your international employees, please contact iss@ku.edu as soon as possible so that cases can be filed as far in advance as possible.