Community Service Leave and COVID-19 Leave Updates

Gov. Roy Cooper has announced temporary changes to the Literacy, Tutoring, and Mentoring Community Service Leave (CSL) Program in Executive Order 246 to help combat staff shortages in K-12 school districts across the state during the current surge of COVID-19 cases. This policy allows ECU employees to use volunteer days with supervisor approval to work in North Carolina public schools, and private schools, as substitute teachers, bus drivers, and cafeteria staff. This temporary change to the community service leave program only applies to services beginning Jan. 12, 2022, through April 15, 2022. Any compensation earned from the school district or private school during your service may be kept, in addition, to the CSL issued by ECU. In addition, Gov. Cooper has allowed an additional 24 hours of CSL to be allotted for the use of this program beyond the 24 CSL allotment (48 total hours of community service leave). Specifically, the following two provisions are added to the community service program through April 15, 2022:

1. State employees are eligible to use community service leave for time spent training to be a substitute teacher, substitute teacher’s assistant, or other substitute staff at a school or school district.
2. State employees are eligible to use community service leave for activity in the schools (with the exclusion of any time spent in religious activities), regardless of whether they receive pay for the activity.

In order to use this community service leave, employees must report to employeerelations@ecu.edu the number of hours volunteered and for which school district the employee volunteered.

If you choose to volunteer at a private school that has a religious affiliation, you will not be eligible to use community service leave for any portion of the day in which you are participating in a religious assembly or promoting religious activities.

View a list of websites that explain each school district’s substitute program.

Additionally, we like to update you on the current COVID-19 Special Faculty and Staff Work and Leave Provisions, effective Jan. 13, 2022, through the end of the public health emergency or until revised or rescinded.

Please see a summary of the newly updated provisions below:

• COVID-19 Paid Administrative Leave is available for employee absences due to a quarantine or isolation order, or if the employee has been advised to self-quarantine or self-isolate by a healthcare provider or public health official, and the institution determines that the employee cannot telework or an employee experiences a reaction to their COVID-19 vaccination or booster that prevents them from returning to work, either on the day of the vaccination or on the following day. To request COVID-19 Paid Administrative Leave, complete the attached COVID-19 Administrative Paid Leave request form and return it, along with confirmation of the date the vaccine was received or reason for self-quarantine or self-isolation, to adminleaverequests@ecu.edu.
  • Under these conditions, COVID-19 Paid Administrative leave will be allocated as follows:
    • Employees may receive up to 80 hours of COVID-19 Paid Administrative leave for absences prior to using any accrued personal leave.
    • After these 80 hours have been exhausted, the employee must use their accrued personal leave for the absences.
    • Once the employee has exhausted their accrued personal leave, then the employee may receive an additional 80 hours of COVID-19 paid administrative leave for qualifying absences.
    • Please note: Employees who have taken COVID-19 Paid Administrative leave or Emergency Paid Sick leave under the FFCRA since March 16, 2020, will have those hours taken deducted from any remaining paid administrative leave that may be available to them.
  • The interchangeability of accrued vacation and sick leave ended on Dec. 31, 2021, and is no longer available.

Please see a summary of the unchanged provisions still currently in place below:

• Permanent and temporary employees may continue to use paid work time to receive the COVID-19 vaccine during work hours, with supervisor approval, not to exceed eight hours in a single day. This paid work time is also provided for a second dose, or booster dose, of the vaccine, if required, also not to exceed eight hours in a single day. Supervisors may request employees to provide proof the vaccine was received to have the use of work time approved. Supervisors should consult with Employee Relations on what would be appropriate to request from employees.
  • Employees must use their own accrued personal leave for continuing reactions experienced beyond the day after vaccination.
• The Literacy, Tutoring, and Mentoring Community Service Leave (CSL) Policy has been continued through the duration of the public health state of emergency and/or when a school mandates or offers virtual classes to support children in a virtual or partially in-person academic setting. During the state of emergency and when a school mandates or offers virtual classes, employees may choose the 36-hour tutoring and mentoring option under CSL as part of a formal standardized program or a non-conventional tutoring/mentoring arrangement. For example, tutoring sessions may be carried out in a virtual and/or in-person environment, performed as part of a remote student cohort, or could include activities with an employee’s own child(ren). These provisions expand the policy definition of “at-risk” students to include those that, by virtue of their circumstances, are more likely than others to fail academically, particularly in a virtual academic environment, and who require temporary or ongoing support to succeed academically. If you have an interest in using CSL under this policy, please contact your supervisor and/or Kronos SuperAdmin.

If you have questions, please direct them to employeerelations@ecu.edu.