NEW HANOVER COUNTY — The coronavirus outbreak has caused thousands of North Carolinians to lose their job. While many are out of work, others are suddenly finding themselves on the front line of the epidemic and being classified as ‘essential’ workers.
For those that can, New Hanover County employees have been told to work from home; however, that is not always an option for everyone. That’s why the county is considering additional hazard benefits for those government employees still showing up to work, and putting themselves at possible exposure to the virus.
Mark Francolini, the chief human resources officer for the county, sent out an email to employees outlining the current practices, as well as plans for the future.
“Over the past couple of weeks, there has been a lot of COVID-19-related information as it pertains to your work location, customer interactions, flexibility provided by the county, and additional benefits approved by Congress. Here are a few of the things we have done proactively in our organization:
- Provided safety precautions for employees, and offered and encouraged you to work from home where possible.
- Stationed a nurse at our facilities and required employees to have their temperatures taken before reporting to work at the office.
- Limited the hours our buildings are open to customers between the hours of 10 am and 2 pm, and we have stationed a nurse to take the temperatures of visitors during those hours.
- Expanded our sick leave bank and added a provision for advanced personal leave.
- Implemented two provisions of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act – Emergency Paid
- Sick Leave Act and Emergency FMLA Expansion Act – effective April 1,” he wrote.
However, some employees, like those who work at the health department or emergency responders still have to work. Their jobs put them at risk of exposure to the virus, which is why the county is considering additional benefits.
“We have had discussions about what we can provide to our employees who have a risk of exposure to COVID-19, due to the nature of their jobs. This may include, but is not limited to, our emergency responders, healthcare providers, and social work staff who are required to respond to situations without knowing the health status of those they encounter at the scene, home or otherwise; staff who are required to work at the office and come into contact with customers or other staff members, where social distancing is difficult (i.e., 911 staff, tax clerks, detention officers, development services specialists, economic services caseworkers, etc.); and custodial, facilities, grounds maintenance, and landfill staff who also risk exposure in the performance of their duties,” Francolini said.
The type of benefits that could be provided has not been decided on just yet, but the county is working to collect data to determine what could be.
“I want to update you all that we are considering the possibility of some type of hazard-related benefit for staff assigned to roles such as those identified above. As you know from either new hire orientation or through mandatory training about the county’s strategic plan, major decisions are driven by data. Our plan is to request information from you, in order to make a data-driven decision related to any hazard-related benefit, Francolini wrote in the email to employees.
“Effective March 30, we are requiring you to track your hours worked from your normal office work location or in a field environment that resulted in having in-person interactions with customers and/or coworkers. In other words, you will be tracking hours worked that were not telework hours. These hours will be used for the sole purpose of tracking non-telework hours worked; and there will be no pay attached to these hours recorded for that purpose,” he said.
The process of collecting the data will take some time, about a month, and then staff will work to determine any additional benefits.
“Once we have collected about a month’s worth of hours recorded under this pay type, we will analyze the data and consider a hazard-related benefit and on what scale, based on the risk of exposure by the position and/or duties performed. If we decide on a benefit for the period covered by our data, we will also consider if it should be applied beyond the initial period, and if so, on what scale,” he said.
