The following temporary work policies for staff will go into effect March 16, 2020, and continue until further notice.
Note: As the situation regarding COVID-19 is changing rapidly, this policy may be revised as needed to reflect the latest public health recommendations. Please continue to monitor Kenyon Employee-Info email and the Kenyon COVID-19 website for updates.
General guidelines: Employees are encouraged to telework during this time as much as is practical based on the duties of their position and as approved by arrangement with their supervisor. Telework arrangements must not adversely affect the departmental operations or necessary productivity. The teleworking employee must comply with College and departmental policies and procedures. Teleworking employees must maintain regular contact with their supervisor and department. In most cases, office phones should be forwarded to cell and/or telework location phones if possible. Instructions for forwarding office phones are listed on the LBIS website.
Non-exempt, hourly staff: Telework is encouraged if the duties of the position allow for it and the arrangement is approved by the supervisor. Actual hours worked must be recorded in Banner web time-entry. Federal wage and hour laws regarding overtime and work hours will continue to apply.
Designated essential personnel, not eligible to telework: Maintenance, Campus Safety, certain Student Affairs staff who are designated as “on-call,” certain employees in the Bookstore, and certain employees in Library and Information Services will be designated essential and not eligible to telework. Members of the Kenyon Emergency Preparedness Team (KEPT) may also be required to report to campus at the discretion of KEPT co-chairs. Due to the uncertain nature of this situation, division heads will have the discretion to determine which employees in their respective divisions are designated as essential personnel.
Social distancing while on campus: Social distancing is a public health intervention used to reduce the likelihood of transmitting communicable disease. Social distancing involves minimizing exposure by avoiding most public gatherings and adhering to spacing requirements in the workplace. If continuing to work on campus, please follow these guidelines.
For staff who are able to telework: Regular rates of pay will apply for telework hours if telework is approved by arrangement with the supervisor.
For staff who experience issues with childcare due to local school closures: Every effort will be made to adjust work schedules if requested by the employee. If the employee is teleworking, they will be expected to continue to meet the telework expectations set by their supervisor, although some daily teleworking hours may be adjusted. For example: If the employee is unable to telework during their normal work hours, they may perform some duties during other hours (early morning, evening, etc., if approved by the supervisor). For hourly employees, actual telework hours should be recorded through Banner web time-entry.
For staff under quarantine or isolation: For staff members who are eligible for paid leave and unable to report to work (either on-campus work or telework) due to self-quarantine or quarantine/isolation ordered by local health authorities, please refer to the Sick/Personal/Family section of the Staff Handbook. Benefits-eligible employees will be eligible for up to two weeks of paid leave for COVID-19-related absences before being required to use sick, personal or family leave (SPF) and/or vacation. Please review this chart (PDF) for details.
Important information for supervisors: It is vital that each supervisor closely monitor telework arrangements with their staff. Approval for a telework arrangement should be documented (email is fine) and expectations for phone forwarding, work requirements and work product outcomes should be made clear for each employee. In addition, supervisors must CAREFULLY review all hours submitted through web time-entry for hourly employees.
Kenyon employee health insurance plan to fully comply with Families First Coronavirus Act COVID-19 testing and test-related visit requirements
Kenyon has committed to support our employees during this challenging time, and had already intended to process covered COVID-19 testing claims without applying member cost sharing, unless you opted out.
Since then, President Trump signed the Families First Coronavirus Act. This act requires all grandfathered and non-grandfathered plans to cover COVID-19 testing and testing-related office visits, urgent care visits and emergency department visits without member cost share for both in- and out-of-network. Office visits includes in-person visits and telehealth visits.
To support this act, Kenyon's health plan administrator, UMR will be implementing the following for our plan:
Pay COVID-19 testing and test-related visits (office visits, urgent care center, emergency department, telehealth and telemedicine vendor) at 100% without member cost share.
This policy will be in place until June 18, 2020, and then further evaluated. Kenyon is also adding telehealth service through Teladoc for non-emergency visits effective May 1, 2020.
In light of the recent COVID-19 pandemic we are all facing, many of your existing providers may be changing in-person appointments to virtual appointments, also referred to as telemedicine. If this occurs, Kenyon’s plan will cover telemedicine visits at established co-pay levels. This is separate from the Teladoc coverage that will be implemented on May 1, 2020.
Telemedicine is defined as the practice of health care delivery, diagnosis, consultation, treatment, transfer of medical data and education using interactive audio, video, or data communications.
All current applicable co-payments, deductible and coinsurance will apply. These services will process as any other medical claim unless the service is related to a COVID-19 diagnosis in which case the claim will be processed at 100% coverage.
This addition is in response to the current COVID-19 pandemic and will expire on July 1, 2020.
Updated March 26, 2020