We have reached a “Tentative Agreement” (TA) on the terms and conditions of the County’s COVID Vaccine mandate. This TA will be referred to all members for ratification via electronic ballot beginning next week – Monday, September 13 through Friday, September 17. There will be an opportunity for questions and answers at the General Membership Webinar on Wednesday, September 15 at 6:15PM, please register for the meeting in advance. Finally, if you have more questions about the mandate or this TA, feel free to reach out to our Vaccination Response Team: vrt@afscmelocal88.org. More information will become available on the website including a frequently updated FAQ and a copy of the Tentative Agreement.
Important Details of the Tentative Agreement:
Workers who have not been vaccinated are allowed to use county paid time to receive the vaccination and code the time as Administrative Leave. Employees must notify their supervisor in advance that they will be taking time off for a COVID-19 vaccination.
Access to current Emergency Protected Sick Leave and Expanded Family Medical Leave banks are extended through June 30, 2022.
If you have depleted your EPSL you will have an additional 2 days/16 hours, whichever is greater, added to your EPSL bank for use in recovering from side effects associated with vaccination.
Medical and religious/spiritual exemptions are protected and can be filed at any point throughout this process, but we strongly recommend that if you intend to file an exemption you should do so as early as possible. If a medical or religious exemption is provisionally approved or fully approved, the County will engage in an interactive process, if necessary, to determine the appropriate reasonable accommodation.
Employees that aren’t vaccinated by October 18 or haven’t submitted their vaccination status by October 13 will be laid off from employment. If they subsequently become fully vaccinated, they will be eligible for recall for 24 months if they become fully vaccinated by October 18, 2023.
If you report that you are partially vaccinated by October 13, you may take a leave of absence or perform telework if available, through November 30, 2021, to become fully vaccinated. If you take a leave of absence you may elect to use your sick leave or other accrued leave or go on an unpaid leave of absence. If you haven’t completed vaccination by November 30, 2021, a layoff will occur, but you will retain health insurance benefits through the end of December.
Employees will not receive formal discipline for not complying with the vaccination mandate but may receive coaching and verbal warnings. Please note if you do not comply with the vaccine mandate, the county will proceed with the layoff process.
