Week 24: Library Phase 2 Begins September 8th

Elaine Martin Director’s Corner

I am writing this week to outline and confirm the details for our Phase 2 start-up. Phase 2 begins Tuesday, Sept. 8th and will last through the end of December 2020. This phase will require Countway staff to work onsite 48 hours over a 4-week period (140 hours). The remainder of the work schedule will continue remotely.

The business purpose for staff to be onsite during Phase 2 is to focus on the numerous onsite, in building, hands-on tasks that need to be accomplished. The managers heard your requests for more flexibility in the work schedule as we transition from Phase 1 into Phase 2. We listened and I am pleased to say we are able to accommodate more flexibility to the work schedule within certain parameters. These include: adding Friday as a workday, an option for longer shifts, and allowing for some time to do work at your desk. With some minor tweaking, we have been working with HR, security, facilities, custodial, etc. to accommodate almost all of your requests based on university and labor relations rules. Here is a high-level overview:

  1. Your manager will reach out to you early next week to confirm your schedule
  2. You can not change your schedule after September 8th and your schedule will remain constant through the end of December 2020
  3. If you are sick (even the sniffles), please stay home
  4. If you are unable to work a scheduled day, notify your captain, and your manager and take a sick, vacation or personal day
  5. The workdays are Monday-Friday, NO weekends
  6. The workday begins at 6:30 am and ends at 6:30 pm. Your schedule must fall into these hours of operation.
  7. We are striving for a minimum of two people in the building at all times, however, we understand things come up and it may not be possible so, we have arranged for security to be in the building from 6:30 am to 6:30 pm Monday-Friday.
  8. All employees need to get a baseline negative COVID-19 test prior to the start of their new shift to begin Phase 2 and will be tested once a week as ongoing testing is phased in by the campus. There will be more about ongoing testing at a later time. You may go get your baseline test and ongoing test during work time.
  9. You must check-in and out each day with your captain(s)
  10. You will be given a daily work assignment schedule with the location as we need to adhere to social distancing and density guidelines
  11. CHOM will have its own check-in station and daily captains mirroring what is happening in library admin. CHOM will have its own bathrooms and eating areas on L2. CHOM will have cleaning kits and supplies mirroring what is in the admin suite.
  12. All other Library staff will continue to report into the admin area for assignments and to receive cleaning supplies, etc.
  13. Captains will be assigned each day for CHOM and all other library staff. You are to report any safety violations or workplace issues or absences to your captain immediately regardless if your captain is onsite at the time of the occurrence (some staff are opting for longer hours and some captains are not – there may not always be a captain in the building when staff are)
  14. Meetings will continue remotely even though there may be more staff on-site on a given day. Please limit socialization. We know it may have been a while since you have seen your colleagues but keep socialization to a minimum and continue to practice social honoring.

These work protocols are in place to make Countway as safe a working environment as possible. Failure to adhere to these may result in the need for us to roll back the flexible work option and reinstate a more rigid model. As a reminder, if you are unable to return to work onsite, please notify your manager and Salina Wall, Countway’s HR Consultant. The university has many policies in place to help employees and their managers figure out the next steps.

Lastly, the library will continue to remain closed to non-library staff during Phase 2. However, construction continues, and work inside the building will extend throughout this Fall and end by the holidays. Please be aware that you may encounter more construction noise and disruptions during your workday if you choose a longer shift. We heard from staff and managers that the flexible workday option was worth working around the noise and inconveniences of the construction. Working together we can make Phase 2 work for all of us!

Elaine