The UO is temporarily implementing a new COVID-19 leave program. For detailed information about how and when the UO COVID-19 leave can be utilized, please visit the HR website.

UO COVID-19 Leave Usage

The HR website outlines the proper usage of UO COVID-19 leave. It is important to note that the purpose of UO COVID-19 leave is to replace missed hours. It should not be used to add hours to an employee's pay. 

Employees should follow their unit/department's normal time off expectations and process for UO COVID-19 leave; they do not need to fill out a form or take other action in advance of taking UO COVID-19 leave.  

UO COVID-19 Leave

The leave bucket for the UO COVID-19 Leave will be AEPS – Emergency Paid Sick Leave. The earn code associated with this leave bucket is LTJ (Emergency Paid Sick Leave Taken). The university will need employees to properly track their UO COVID-19 leave usage on their timesheet or leave record.

UO COVID-19 Leave Balances 

• Departments can see the UO COVID-19 leave balances for their faculty, OA, GE, and classified employees in Banner form PEALEAV (by individual) or by running the Leave Report in PWIPAYR.
• Faculty, OA, GE, and classified employees will be able to see their UO COVID-19 leave balance in DuckWeb. Follow these steps:
  • Log in to DuckWeb 
  • Select Employee Information 
  • Select Leave Balances
  • A chart will be displayed that lists all leave types and their current available balance. The UO COVID-19 leave balance will be included here.
• Temporary classified and student employees will not be able to see their UO COVID-19 leave balance in DuckWeb. The calculation and tracking of UO COVID-19 leave will be offline and handled within the departments. 

Faculty, OA, GE, and Classified Employee Instructions: 

Effective September 16, 2021, all full-time faculty, OA, and classified employees will be given 80 hours of UO COVID-19 leave. Part-time faculty, OA, GE, and classified employees will be given a proration of the 80 hours based off their job FTE that will take effect on September 16, 2021. Departments can now see those hours in Banner (PEALEAV or Leave Report). Faculty, OA, GE, and classified employees will be able to see their UO COVID-19 leave balance in DuckWeb.  

Time Entry 

• Departments will enter earn code LTJ for all UO COVID-19 leave used on or after September 16, 2021. 
• All sick leave taken will be charged centrally. 
• All sick leave taken will factor into the leave accrual calculations.

Temporary and Student Employee Instructions: 

Temporary classified and student employees should be allowed to use an amount of UO COVID-19 leave that matches their schedule over a two-week period. Since their normal work hours and schedule are not tracked in our payroll system, we are relying on departments to calculate the number of UO COVID-19 leave hours their temporary classified and student employees are eligible to use. The Payroll Office will not be populating their UO COVID-19 leave bucket. Because of this, temporary classified and students WILL NOT see their UO COVID-19 leave hours in DuckWeb. Balances will need to be tracked offline. Departments can keep track of the UO COVID-19 leave balances for their temporary classified and student employees in an Excel spreadsheet, on the employees’ timesheets, or any other method that works well for the department. Since we won’t be populating the new leave bucket with hours for this population of employees, the UO COVID-19 leave bucket will be allowed to go negative. 

Time Entry 

• Departments will enter earn code LTJ for all UO COVID-19 leave used on or after September 16, 2021. 
• *IMPORTANT* - Departments must monitor sick leave usage to ensure that their temporary and student employees DO NOT use more UO COVID-19 leave than they have available. 
• All sick leave taken will be charged centrally. 
• All sick leave taken will factor into the leave accrual calculations.

UO COVID-19 Leave Calculation Methods 

When calculating the UO COVID-19 leave for temporary classified and student employees, please use the method that best fits your situation: 

1. If the temporary classified or student employee already has a set schedule, they should be given enough UO COVID-19 leave hours to cover a two-week period. For example, if your student was scheduled to work 20 hours a week, they should be allowed to use 40 hours of UO COVID-19 leave.
2. If the temporary classified or student employee does not have a set schedule, departments can use their schedule for the prior worked term to calculate the average number of hours they worked in a week and then multiply that by 2. For example, a student might have worked a total of 203 hours during Fall term, which was 11 weeks long. If you divide the hours worked by the number of weeks, you will get the average per week (203/11=18.45 hours). This student should be given 36.90 (18.45*2) hours of UO COVID-19 leave.
3. If the temporary classified or student employee has just recently been hired, you can base the UO COVID-19 leave hours off the schedule you agreed on upon when you hired them. For example, if when the student was initially hired, they committed to working 15 hours a week, they should be given 30 hours of UO COVID-19 leave to use. 

Contacts

For questions about earn codes, please contact Payroll at 6-3151 or payroll@uoregon.edu.

For questions about eligibility or your leave options, please review the HR website or email hrbenefits@uoregon.edu.