Fill - Free fillable Good Afternoon, Please see the attached information about (City of Bloomington) PDF form

From: Barham, Becky

To: All City Employees

Subject: Important COVID-19 Leave Information

Date: Friday, March 27, 2020 2:46:51 PM

Attachments: Notice to Employees of New Federal Leave (March 27 2020).pdf

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Good Afternoon,

Please see the attached information about the Federal leave policy effective April 2.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions regarding the policies or the forms to request leave.

BECKY BARHAM Human Resources Manager

Pronouns: (she/her/hers)

PH: 952-563-4906 EMAIL: bbarham@bloomingtonmn.gov

1800 West Old Shakopee Road, Bloomington, MN 55431

[CONFIDENTIALITY AND PRIVACY NOTICE] Information transmitted by this email is proprietary to the City of Bloomington and is intended for use only by the

individual or entity to which it is addressed, and may contain information that is private, privileged, confidential or exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If

you are not the intended recipient or it appears that this mail has been forwarded to you without proper authority, you are notified that any use or dissemination

of this information in any manner is strictly prohibited. In such cases, please delete this mail from your records. If you received this communication in error, please

notify me promptly.

DATE: March 27, 2020

TO: All City of Bloomington Employees

FROM: Kris Wilson, Assistant City Manager

RE: Entitlement to Paid Leave for Select COVID-19 Related Situations

The federal government recently enacted legislation providing employees with a right to paid leave for

work missed due to certain COVID-19 qualifying reasons. Please review carefully the attached notice

which outlines the 6 qualifying reasons for this leave and other important terms and conditions.

Additionally, please read the remainder of this memo for important information on how the City of

Bloomington intends to implement these new leave options.

Leave for Reasons 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6

Full-time employees needing leave time for reasons 1-4 or 6, are eligible for up to 80 hours of paid leave

without deduction from accrued leave balances. Part-time employees are eligible for an amount equal

to two times their average weekly hours, as calculated over the past six months. This 80 hours, or two-

weeks, of paid leave is for qualifying leaves taken April 2 through December 31, 2020. Any paid leave

time related to COVID-19 that an employee has taken between March 15 and April 1 does not count

against this leave provided under federal law.

Please note, while the law only requires that employees be paid 2/3 of their regular rate of pay for

reasons #4 and #6, the City has opted to go above and beyond what the law requires and pay employees

with these qualifying reasons their full regular rate of pay for the 80 hours, or two-weeks, of leave.

Similarly, the City will not be imposing the cap that the federal law provides for on the amount of pay for

reasons 1-4 and 6.

If you require more than 80 hours, or two-weeks, of time off due to reasons 1-4 or 6, you will need to

use some other form of paid leave, such as accrued vacation, personal leave, comp time or paid-time-off

(PTO). If you do not have other forms of paid leave accrued, any additional leave beyond the 80 hours

will be unpaid.

Lastly, please be aware that the total amount of paid leave under this section of the new law is 80 hours.

So, for example, if an employee uses the 80 hours of leave to care for a sick family member (reason #4)

and then that employee becomes ill (reason #1 or #3), there will not be another 80 hours of paid leave,

unless accrued vacation, personal leave, comp time or PTO is used.

Leave for Reason 5

The new federal law also provides up to 12 weeks of leave for employees needing to care for their child

or children due to a school or child care closure. This leave is provided through a temporary expansion

of the federal Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and does count toward the total 12 weeks of FMLA

leave for which an employee is eligible in a given year.

Unlike the regular forms of FMLA leave, which are unpaid or require the use of accrued leave time, this

new, temporary form of FMLA provides for some pay to the employee if taking leave due to a school or

child care closure. In such cases, the first two weeks may be counted as use of the 80 hours or two-

weeks discussed above for reasons 1-4 and 6. This means they can be taken at full pay, so long as those

80 hours or two-weeks of full pay have not been used for another reason. After the first two weeks,

employees who remain unable to work due to a school or child care closure, may take an additional 10

weeks (400 hours for a full-time employee) of leave and will be paid 2/3 of their regular rate of pay, up

to a maximum of $25 per hour for that leave. Part-time employees will be eligible for 10 weeks,

calculated based off of the average weekly hours worked.

With supervisor approval, this leave may be taken intermittently, at a minimum of full hour increments.

For example, when possible, the City will allow an employee to be off work for half the day to care for

children using this new form of FMLA and then come in for a half day. Working some full shifts in a

week and taking leave for some full shifts is also an option. Lastly, the City will allow employees to

supplement the pay provided under this FMLA leave with the use of accrued leave time, if an employee

wishes to receive a full paycheck.

Summary

This new federal law is complex, and sometimes vague. The City is doing its best to understand all of the

details and to implement it in a fully compliant manner that supports the varying needs of our

workforce.

If you have a need for leave during this time, and believe you have a qualifying reason, the first step is to

complete the appropriate application form (see attached).

As with any new leave program, we expect there will be questions and will do our best to answer them

as quickly and thoroughly as possible. Please contact HR Manager Becky Barham at

bbarham@BloomingtonMN.gov

or (952) 563 – 4906 or Assistant City Manager Kris Wilson at

kwilson@BloomingtonMN.gov or (952) 563 – 4898 with questions or as soon as you become aware of a

need for leave time.

EMPLOYEE RIGHTS

PAID SICK LEAVE AND EXPANDED FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE

UNDER THE FAMILIES FIRST CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE ACT

WAGE AND HOUR DIVISION

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

WH1422 REV 03/20

For additional information



1-866-487-9243



dol.gov/agencies/whd

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ENFORCEMENT

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PAID LEAVE ENTITLEMENTS

Generally, employers covered under the Act must provide employees:

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

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ELIGIBLE EMPLOYEES

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Employees who have been employed for at least 30 days

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QUALIFYING REASONS FOR LEAVE RELATED TO COVID-19

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telework

Form to Request Federal Paid

Emergency Sick Leave for COVID-19

Starting on April 2, 2020, if you are unable to work because of the COVID-19 pandemic, you may be

eligible for paid sick leave under new federal legislation. You will be paid at your regular rate of pay.

Full-time employees may take up to 80 hours of paid emergency sick leave for a qualifying reason. Part-

time employees may take the number of hours they typically work in an average two-week period. To

request paid emergency sick leave, please complete the below.

I certify that I am unable to work, including unable to telework, because of one of the following reasons:

 I am subject to a Federal, State or local quarantine or isolation order related to COVID-19,

including but not limited to a “shelter in place” order.

 I have been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine due to concerns related to

COVID-19.

 I am experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and am seeking a medical diagnosis

 I am caring for an individual who is subject to a Federal, State or local quarantine or isolation

order related to COVID-19, such as a “shelter in place” order; or who has been advised by a

health care provider to self-quarantine due to concerns related to COVID-19.

 I am caring for my minor child whose school or place of care is closed (or child care provider is

unavailable) due to COVID-19 related reasons

 I am experiencing a substantially similar condition, as specified by the U.S. Department of Health

and Human Services.

Please note that Human Resources may ask you for documentation at any point to confirm your

eligibility for this leave.

Request Leave to Begin Date: _________________________________________________

Anticipated Return to Work Date: _________________________________________________

Employee’s Name (Printed): _________________________________________________

I certify that the above information is true and accurate to the best of my knowledge.

Employee Signature Date

___________________ ____________________________________________________________

Clear form

Form to Request FMLA for COVID-19

(School / Child-Care Closure)

Employee Name: _____________________________________________________

Department: _________________________________________________________

Starting on April 2, 2020, if you are unable to work because you need to care for your minor child whose

school or child care provider is closed or unavailable due to the COVID-19 pandemic, you may be eligible

for a partially paid leave of absence through the Family and Medical Leave Act, under recent federal

legislation. If eligible, you may take up to 12 weeks of leave for this reason. The first two weeks of leave

are unpaid, but you may use accrued paid time or other paid leave during those weeks.

To be eligible for this FMLA leave, you must have worked for the City for at least 30 days; and be unable

to work or telework because you are caring for your minor child since your child’s school or daycare

closed or your childcare is unavailable due to COVID-19.

I certify that I am unable to work or telework at this time due to the need to care for my minor

child/children who do not have school or child care due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This situation

makes me:

___ Completely unable to work my normal schedule.

___ Able to work only a portion of my normal schedule. (Please describe the hours you are able to work

on a separate piece of paper and attach. This will be reviewed with your supervisor and a response

provided as to whether the City can reasonably accommodate the requested schedule.)

Child / Children I must care for:

Relationship to Employee: Date of Birth:

Child’s Name: _____________________________________________________________________

_______________________ _________________________

Name and City of School or Child Care Center/Provider the child is enrolled at:

__________________________________________________________________________________

As of now, this school / child care provider has closed until: _________________________________

Child’s Name: _____________________________________________________________________

Date of Birth: _______________________ Relationship to Employee: _________________________