Embry-Riddle Announces New University Travel and Personal Leave Policies

Mar 10, 2020, 3:00 PM

To help slow the spread of the novel 2019 coronavirus (COVID-19), Embry-Riddle is today announcing two new policies that prohibit university travel to large gatherings and expand personal leave to keep employees home if they are sick.

Both new policies are outlined below.

University Travel

The university’s leadership team continues to refine contingency plans and make decisions related to the novel 2019 coronavirus (COVID-19). The health and wellbeing of our students, faculty, staff and community remain our highest priority. As an additional precautionary measure related to travel, the following rules now apply:

  • Embry-Riddle prohibits university-funded or sponsored travel to large, professional conferences. These large gatherings generally involve higher-density contact with individuals coming in from across the United States and overseas and may serve to spread COVID-19. Questions about which conferences constitute large gatherings are subjective by nature. We encourage you to use your best, conservative judgment and elevate any questions to your supervisor, who ultimately approves your travel.
  • Supervisors must cancel any domestic or international travel that is non-essential and could reasonably be postponed, cancelled, or handled through other means (e.g., video conference, etc.).  Essential travel to international locations still needs to follow the approval protocols provided earlier. Review the international travel requirements.

These measures take place immediately and apply to all university-funded travel scheduled to start before May 4. The situation is rapidly evolving. We will continue to monitor health and travel advisories and make changes as necessary. Any costs associated with cancelling travel according to this guidance will be covered by the university through the department that was originally funding the travel.

For grant related travel, please contact the Office of Sponsored Research Administration (OSRA) at dbosp@erau.edu, as the particulars may vary by funding source.

Personal Leave

As a further step to help keep the Embry-Riddle community healthy, personal leave (PL) benefits are being expanded to ensure that all employees have enough personal leave to stay home if they become ill amid the COVID-19 crisis. New requirements for all employees are as follows:

  • If you are not feeling well, immediately contact your healthcare provider or the health services unit on your campus for screening and care.
  • If you or your supervisor are concerned about your wellbeing, you will be required to have a wellness check to determine whether you should go home or return to work.
  • During this time, if you are not feeling well you are encouraged to telework, with your supervisor’s approval.
  • If teleworking is not an option, and you are not feeling well, stay home and use your personal leave, if applicable.
  • To support faculty members who are not feeling well, college deans will provide alternate work-from-home assignments, at their discretion.
  • If you don’t have sufficient personal leave and you are an employee in good standing, Human Resources can allow your leave to be used in advance of accrual (that is, your balance can “go negative”).

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