School Closures and Impact on County Employees

Message from Helen Robbins-Meyer, Chief Administrative Officer

With the news that many schools and day care facilities across the region are closing to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, or COVID-19, there may be many of you who are impacted and not able to report to work. We want to work with employees to assist in coping with their circumstances while making sure we can still serve the public during a difficult time.

In order to address this issue, the County is expanding our current use of teleworking options where feasible. If you are affected by school or day care closures, please discuss with your department the possibility of teleworking while you make plans for child care. 

When teleworking is not an option, you will be able to use your leave balances, including sick, vacation and compensatory time. If you have no available leave balances and still need to be off work, the County will advance you up to 120 hours of sick leave.

For employees not impacted by school closures, your continued commitment to our community and the help you offer your fellow workers are truly appreciated. All government employees are designated as Disaster Service Workers under Government Code 3101, and while there is no need today, there may be a need in the future to reassign employees to address the COVID-19 emergency. Your efforts are critical to ensure continued services to the public.

Your safety is our number one priority. In order to enhance workplace health and safety, the County has taken steps to increase sanitation efforts throughout the day in public spaces and common areas, and is providing additional disinfecting wipes and hand sanitizer to work locations. And if you feel ill, please stay home.

The situation will likely keep changing, and we will continue to communicate when there are updates to our operations.

I thank all our employees who have been working tirelessly to protect our community and everyone for their continued flexibility.