The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued interim guidance for employers in response to the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19). In addition, the Baker Administration has issued guidelines for state employees on this matter. The purpose of the document is to provide UMass President’s Office employees with guidance that is consistent with these guidelines. This guidance…, Notification, Documentation and Return to Work, Employees who are absent from work because they meet one or more of the criteria above should follow their existing department notification process, and they should contact Jacquie Kittler, Director of Employee & Labor Relations, at jkittler@umassp.edu or at 774-455-7559. In addition, they should contact Jacquie Kittler to coordinate the terms of their return to work. Consistent with CDC…, Use of Paid Leave, Employees can use available paid leave (including sick, vacation and personal leave) if they are absent from work for one of the reasons above. Employees who do not have sufficient paid leave to cover their absence should contact Jacquie Kittler at jkittler@umassp.edu or 774-455-7559. If an employee is fit to perform work, but unable to report to work because they have self-quarantined from…, Work from Home, The President’s Office is exploring options to increase the number of employees who may work from home. At this time, existing work from home agreements should continue in their current form. However, supervisors should work with employees, who currently do not work from home, to develop work from home options that could be implemented in the event we need to expand the number of employees who…, Employees with Symptoms, If an employee is concerned that a co-worker may pose a health risk to others, please contact Jacquie Kittler at jkittler@umassp.edu or at 774-455-7559. We ask that any decision to send an employee home from work, or restrict an employee from the workplace, be made in conjunction with Human Resources on a case-by-case, fact-specific basis., Work Related Travel, All international and out-of-state University-related travel for President’s Office employees has been cancelled., Personal Travel, The President’s Office strongly discourages employees from traveling internationally at this time. Employees who choose to engage in personal travel should review the “Traveler’s Health Notices” that can be found at CDC Travel page . Employees should be advised that travel to certain locations may result in the need for the employee to self-quarantine upon his/her return in accordance with CDC…, Conference and Large Gatherings and In-Person Meetings, Employees may not attend external work-related conferences, seminars or events in person. Alternatively, employees are encouraged to participate remotely. Regular internal business shall continue. However, meeting organizers are encouraged to utilize alternatives like conference calls, Zoom, WebEx and other group communication tools. Additionally, employees may not host in-person meetings,…, Interviews for Employment, Interviews with candidates for employment should be conducted remotely or rescheduled., Employees with Increased Risk, Older adults and individuals with serious chronic medical conditions are at increased risk of becoming seriously ill should they contract COVID-19. Employees in these risk groups are encouraged to talk with their supervisors to review possible alternative work assignments which may include working from home. These employees may also contact Katie Temple, the Senior Benefits Generalist for the…, Bias in the workplace, Employees are reminded to be mindful of projecting their anxiety about COVID-19 onto people from specific races and ethnicities. Stigma directed towards any group regarding the virus is contrary to the facts and runs counter to the values of our University and is not to be tolerated., Additional information, Employees with specific questions regarding COVID-19, including its symptoms, spread, prevention and treatment can be found with the CDC and Massachusetts Department of Public Health at the links below. CDC Coronavirus (COVID-19) Page Information on the Outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) If you have any additional questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to Jacquie…
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Each year, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts provides state agencies with the opportunity to formally recognize employees for their extraordinary contributions to public service through the Performance Recognition Program (PRP). Employees at the University of Massachusetts President’s Office are asked to submit nominations for the five awards offered through the PRP, including for the…, Group Commonwealth Citations, COVID-19 On-Site Transition Team (OTT), Kelly Fucci, Executive Assistant Bill Smith, MIS Manager/Senior Director Brad Smith, Chief Information Security Officer, Effort Certification Core Team - Application Upgrade Implementation, Kristen Luiz Roger Rice Kathy Sawyer Saqib Zulfiqar, Family First Coronavirus Response Act Project Team, Zoila Altamirano Nicole Apostola Suzanne Cerrato Darpan Gokharu Susan Kong Gale Landry Lillian Leong Meghan Portmann Cynthia Szabady
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May 18 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm EDT, Join Disability:IN and their corporate partners for a Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) webinar on accessible procurement. A corporate commitment to a disability diverse and inclusive workforce requires that digital products and content be fully usable by a company’s employees and job applicants with disabilities. Accessible procurement is key to that commitment. Join this panel of…
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Inclusive Design 24 (#id24) is a free 24-hour online event for the global community. It celebrates inclusive design and shares knowledge and ideas from analogue to digital, from design to development, from planners to practitioners, and everything and everyone in between. Some of the sessions that will be offered: Beyond 99 Red Balloons - A Pragmatic guide to alternative text How Project…, How to join, No sign-up. No registration. All sessions are streamed live and publicly on the Inclusive Design 24 YouTube channel – see the entire playlist for the event . Live captions for each session will be available. Have a question for a presenter? No problem! Tweet your questions to @id24conf using the #id24 hashtag and our moderators will make sure they get them answered for you.
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Disability rights activity, writer, and speaker Emily Ladau has released her first book, Demystifying Disability: What to Know, What to Say, and How to Be an Ally . This practical, intersectional guide offers all readers a welcoming place to understand disability as part of the human experience., About the book, People with disabilities are the world’s largest minority, an estimated 15 percent of the global population. But many of us—disabled and nondisabled alike—don’t know how to act, what to say, or how to be an ally to the disability community. Demystifying Disability is a friendly handbook on the important disability issues you need to know about, including: How to appropriately think, talk, and…, How to purchase the book, This book is available in various print, audio, and digital formats at Penguin Random House .
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The Digital Experience team has launched a new Provide Inclusive Meetings and Events page on the Inclusive by Design site. This page can be found in the How to Create an Inclusive Experience section of the site. The goal of the page is to provide presenters and event coordinators with general guidelines on how to ensure meetings and events are disability inclusive, including how to create…
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axe-con is an open and inclusive digital accessibility conference that welcomes developers, designers, business users, and accessibility professionals of all experience levels to a new kind of accessibility conference focused on building, testing, and maintaining accessible digital experiences. The conference will be held virtually Tuesday, March 15 through Thursday, March 17th, 2022. You can…
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Teach Access has launched the latest iteration of the Accessibility Skills Hiring Toolkit on GitHub. The move to GitHub will allow us to post translations of the job positions and interview questions going forward. The goal of the Accessibility Skills Hiring Toolkit is to help organizations build internal capacity for producing accessible digital products by developing a knowledgeable and…
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Dear Colleagues, I am writing to inform you that I, in consultation with the Senior Leadership Team, have decided that all Office of the President employees will be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19. I firmly believe that all 75,000 students and 24,000 employees of the University of Massachusetts need to be vaccinated. Our campuses are in active negotiations with their unionized…
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