An added benefit is available for those who opt for the LLCC dental insurance coverage. If you need dental care and are unable to reach your regular provider, you now have the option to consult with a dentist through a video call. Cigna Dental Virtual Care is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week at no additional cost to Cigna Dental customers, through May 31, 2020.

More information is available in a flyer emailed by Nicole Ralph, associate vice president, HR, late yesterday afternoon.

Your well-being during these challenging times is of the utmost importance. As a reminder, the college’s Employee Assistance Program has shared a series of three webinars to support your well-being as you navigate the road ahead:

1. LifeWorks WLS Pre-Recorded Webinar: Emotional Well-Being During the COVID-19 Pandemic — Audience: all employees, free resource, 25 minutes. Learning objectives include why outbreaks affect our emotional health, practical skills to cope with the anxiety, talking to your children and tips for you and your family. Link: https://vimeopro.com/user65099910/emotional-well-being-covid-19
2. LifeWorks WLS Pre-Recorded Webinar: Talking to your child about Covid-19 — Audience: all employees, free resource, 23 minutes. Learning objectives include having a difficult conversation, where to start, aspects to consider, the tough questions and creating a solution focus. Link: https://vimeopro.com/user65099910/talking-with-your-child-coronavirus
3. LifeWorks WLS Pre-Recorded Webinar: Introduction to Working Remotely — Free resource, 20 minutes. Learning objectives include indentifying the benefits and challenges of working remotely, applying strategies to enhance productivity and staying connected. Link: https://vimeopro.com/user65099910/introduction-to-working-remotely

Our partners at LifeSpeak have made resources available as a courtesy during these difficult times. They’ve posted three expert interviews around COVID that you can check out:

• What You Need to Know Now About the Coronavirus
• Managing Anxiety during the Coronavirus outbreak
• Social Distancing: What it means and how you can manage it in day-to-day life

Also – here are links to videos available from the CDC – a reliable resource for us all: VIDEOS: The Facts about COVID 19 from The CDC. Audience: all employees, free resource available from CDC

• CDC Briefing Room:  COVID 19
• 10 things you can do to manage COVID at home
• Six steps to prevent COVID
• COVID: What older adults need to know
• Symptoms of COVID

LLCC Human Resources is currently advertising for the following position: program director, diagnostic medical sonography. Full details can be found on the HR Employment site.

Whether it’s due to your current work status, travel restrictions or other circumstances, you may find yourself canceling vacation plans or not having the opportunity to take vacation time as you may have intended during this period of time. This may put some of you, who are currently carrying a high vacation leave balance, in a situation where you will not get your full monthly or annual vacation accrual. Rest assured that you are not in danger of losing vacation accruals due to the situation we find ourselves in. For anyone whose accrual will put them over the maximum balance limit (320 hours for full-time employees), HR will carryover that excess vacation accrual and track it separately from the system.  Each month, HR will provide a report to those employees with carryover balances. Normal accruals with no carryover will resume Sept. 30, 2020. You will need to work with and seek approval from your supervisor on a plan to use vacation time that allows you to have a total vacation leave balance under the maximum limit. Should the stay-at-home order be extended further, this deadline may be extended.

If you have any questions, please contact Nicole Ralph at nicole.ralph@llcc.edu.

On March 18, 2020, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act was signed into law providing expanded FMLA leave specifically for the care of a child or children in the event of school or daycare closures related to COVID-19 and emergency paid sick leave. LLCC is adopting these provisions retroactive to March 16, 2020. Per the Act, these provisions are temporary, ending Dec. 31, 2020. As we have moved to remote operations, these provisions would not apply if you continue to be able to work remotely, or remain available to work, on a limited basis as scheduled for essential on-campus functions or if needed on any other basis. Below is an overview of each provision as it relates to LLCC:

Expanded FMLA Leave

This legislation permits eligible employees to use FMLA leave to care for a child due to a school or daycare closure during a COVID-19 declared emergency by a federal, state or local authority. Eligible employees are entitled to 12 weeks of job-protected leave to care for a child if the child’s school or place of care has been closed, or the child-care provider is unavailable, due to COVID-19. Leave must be due to child care. An eligible employee is any employee who has been employed for at least 30 calendar days by LLCC. The employee may take the first ten workdays of leave unpaid or use available benefit leave time to receive full pay. If leave continues beyond 10 workdays, LLCC will provide the employee with paid FMLA leave at the employee’s full base pay rate.

Please contact Kim Elder (kimberly.elder@llcc.edu) should you be unable to work remotely or become unavailable to work and need this expanded FMLA leave.

Paid Emergency Sick Leave

Employees are eligible for up to ten (10) workdays of emergency sick leave as it relates to COVID-19. This leave is separate from your current available benefit leave time. Your available benefit leave time would only be used after exhausting emergency sick leave should you continue to be unable to work. The following are qualifying reasons for use of emergency sick leave should you become unable to work remotely or unavailable to work on a limited or as needed basis:

• You are subject to a federal, state or local quarantine or isolation order related to COVID-19;
• You have been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine due to concerns related to COVID-19;
• You have been advised by LLCC to self-quarantine due to concerns related to COVID-19;
• You are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and seeking a medical diagnosis;
• You are caring for an individual who is subject to a government or health care provider ordered quarantine or isolation;
• You are caring for a son or daughter of such employee if the school or place of care of the son or daughter has been closed, or the child care provider of such son or daughter is unavailable, due to COVID-19 precautions; or
• You are experiencing any other substantially similar condition specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Labor.

Emergency sick leave will be paid at 100% of your normal base pay rate.

If you have a qualifying reason for emergency paid sick leave and wish to use it, you must contact your supervisor AND hr@llcc.edu. You must provide the reason for use and provide any required documentation. You may be asked to provide a daily update of your status. You may also be asked to provide a release from your physician to return to work. As this is a temporary leave policy, we will track this leave separately from the certificate of absence (CoA) system.

Insurance Coverage Update

The Act also calls for expanded insurance coverage related to COVID-19. Due to relaxed guidance, the Open Access Plan and the High Deductible Plan will now cover the cost of COVID-19 diagnostic testing and corresponding office visit (virtual or in-person) or urgent care visit without cost sharing. Plans will also cover, with no cost sharing, any FDA approved in-vitro diagnostic products designed to detect SARS-CoV-2 or the diagnosis of the virus that causes COVID-19 and the administration of such in-vitro diagnostic products. This means 100%, no deductible plan payment for professional services and lab tests incurred for a COVID-19 diagnostic test, including in-vitro testing. No prior authorization will be required.

These provisions are meant to remove financial barriers related to COVID-19 and provide you with peace of mind should you find yourself or a family member adversely affected by this current situation. If you have any questions, please contact Nicole Ralph, associate vice president, human resources, at nicole.ralph@llcc.edu.

Many questions have come up regarding use of benefit leave time while working remotely. As remote workers, we are all expected to adhere to our regular schedules, either working or available to work as the need arises.  If you should be unable to work or unavailable to work due to illness, doctor’s appointment or other circumstances while working remotely, employees should use the appropriate sick, personal, or vacation time and complete a Certificate of Absence (CoA) form.

Also, many employees have submitted future Certificates of Absence for time they were intending to take down the road.  Please review any submitted time off.  If your plans have changed, please email your supervisor and hr@llcc.edu to request that the future CoA form be deleted.  Otherwise, the CoA will be processed and time will be deducted.