In tracking time during the current health situation, UNT System HR has found that some employees without the ability to telecommute or work are not entering emergency leave, and the time is reflecting as regular hours worked.
Any staff member:
- whose job is not conducive to telecommuting;
- has not been designated as essential personnel to work on campus; and
- has no alternative duties assigned
(meaning that they are unable to work because the university has directed them not to) must enter HPEMG - Health Pandemic Emergency Leave for their time, whether they are unable to work a full or partial day. This time reporting of emergency leave began March 25, the first date the campus was closed to nonessential personnel, as all staff should have been able to be on campus to perform their jobs prior to that date.
It is imperative that supervisors ensure that staff in their areas who are in the situation listed above are using the timecode HPEMG, as leave time cannot be reflected as regular pay for work performed.
As areas across the country begin to see a decline in COVID-19 cases, it's important to continue to take precautions to prevent the spread of the virus. These reminders include updated information from the Centers for Disease Control.
Washing your hands and practicing social distance of 6 feet or more from others remain the most effective ways to prevent the spread. Masks and gloves are recommended by the CDC in specific situations. On campus, Facilities continues to clean common rooms and general building areas. It is recommended that you sanitize your own desk or work station, as needed.
Going above and beyond: Stories from UNT's COVID-19 response:
The Department of Mathematics wants to celebrate Kristi Nelson, manager of the Math Quest Center, for perfectly exemplifying UNT's commitment to building community. Nelson has tirelessly and competently been answering the phone and handling e-mails throughout this crisis.
While we were still allowed on campus, Kristi single-handedly and in record time turned the Math Quest Center into a socially distanced computer lab for students who wouldn't have internet access, complete with a detailed cleaning schedule for the workstations. She kept track of many things, from equipment requests to remote teaching forms, time reporting and more. Kristi also mixed together her own cleaning materials when we weren't able to buy it anymore. As the last woman standing in an otherwise deserted department, she even delivered teaching equipment and other items to people — or met them in the Walmart parking lot — after work! She traveled as far as Keller to make sure all employees had what they needed to succeed remotely. Above all, Nelson kept her colleagues' spirits up with some great office humor. “The list goes on, but we are just so thrilled to share the type of employees we have working here at UNT,” says Jana Watkins, office manager and assistant to the chair. “Math rocks! We bleed green!”
If you know of someone who is going above and beyond, please share their information with untpresident@unt.edu so we can give them a shoutout.
Don't forget that healthalerts.unt.edu is updated frequently with new information about how we are working together through this global health crisis.
