Employees should note that the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which requires employers to provide employees with paid sick leave (up to 80 hours) or expanded family and medical leave for specified reasons related to COVID-19, expired Dec. 31, 2020. If employees are away from work due to COVID-19, they should record accrued leave time on their timesheet.
MOSERS ready-to-retire sessions will be online until at least June 1, 2021.
Blue KC has announced it will extend member relief related to COVID-19 through June 30, 2021.
For a complete listing of updates to insurance plans and benefits, visit www.nwmissouri.edu/hr/bulletin/events/COVID19Insurance.htm.
Faculty members who must isolate after testing positive for COVID-19 or need to quarantine due to being a contact of a positive case should work with their department chair or school director to move courses to remote status temporarily.
An extended absence flag has been created in Northwest Success 360 to communicate a COVID-19 case to campus stakeholders. Log in to Northwest Success 360, find the student, and raise the flag titled, “Student reported that they will be absent for a week or more of classes.”
The flag will trigger a notification to the student’s course instructors as well as various campus offices for services or account holds.
Although the flag system provides a notification, students who must isolate after testing positive for COVID-19 or need to quarantine due to being a contact of a positive case are expected to communicate directly with their instructors to arrange accommodations and progress through their coursework.
Yes, employees are encouraged to host Zoom meetings with students but should do so in campus offices.
An extended absence flag has been created in Northwest Success 360 to communicate this to campus stakeholders. Login to Northwest Success 360, find the student, and raise the flag titled, “Student reported that they will be absent for a week or more of classes.”
Yes. An individual could be a known contact without a positive test and be required to quarantine.
In alignment with federal and state guidelines and processes, Northwest is approving and tracking purchases related to COVID-19 mitigation measures.
The University has provided a PowerPoint with instructions and a financial tracking form for employees to use. To access these tools, log in to MyNorthwest, click the Employee Resources tab and then look for the expense tracking links within the Tools module.
In general, employers can ask an employee how he or she is feeling but should not inquire about a specific illness as that could rise to the level of a disability-related inquiry under the ADA.
Employees who show signs of illness can be asked to leave the workplace and stay at home until they are free of symptoms.
If an employer learns of an employee’s medical condition, such as a diagnosis of the coronavirus, the employer may not share this information. Under the confidentiality provisions of ADA, FMLA, and WC, only those who “need to know” may know about the diagnosis. It may be difficult to demonstrate that, for example, a line manager “needed to know” the employee’s specific diagnosis. Instead, the line manager likely only needs to know the employee will be on a leave of absence and not able to work.
Therefore, employers should keep an employee’s medical condition and diagnosis confidential and private unless there are true health and safety circumstances deemed by the Department of Health. It is always the employee’s right to release and share their own medical condition information.
Employers may educate employees on how they can best protect themselves and what steps employees should take if they were exposed or experience symptoms. The Department of Health will conduct a trace and contact employee who may have been exposed and need to be quarantined.
