8.3. SR 04-06-2020
Request for Action
To Item Number
Mayor and City Council 8.3
Agenda Section Meeting Date Prepared by
General Business April 6, 2020 Cal Portner, City Administrator
Item Description Reviewed by
COVID – 19 Leave Policy Lauren Wipper, HR Manager
Reviewed by
Lori Ziemer, Finance Director
Action Requested
Approve, by motion, retroactive pandemic-related leave for employees impacted by public health
measures enacted to contain COVID-19 from March 16 through March 31, 2020.
Background/Discussion
On March 16, 2020, the City Council approved the use of employee-accrued sick leave for pandemic-
related events including daycare and voluntary or mandated quarantine.
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On March 18 President Trump signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) which
went into effect on April 1. The FFCRA mandates an employer provide up to 80 hours of sick time for
pandemic-related leaves through December 31, 2020.
From March 16 through March 31, several city employees were required to take sick leave or vacation due
to lost daycare services or a voluntary quarantine as a result of a potential exposure.
Federal law now mandates leave beyond an employee’s accrual for all employers. The Council should
consider refilling the leave banks for affected employees for the period of March 16-31. During this
timeframe, Gubernatorial executive orders dramatically changed our operations and most of the
situations were well beyond the control of employees.
Financial Impact
Refilling sick and vacation banks is mostly a paper transaction as all staffing hours were budgeted for the
year. The overall staffing budget for 2020 will likely be greatly underutilized due to hiring delays or
unfilled vacancies related to operational changes.
Attachments
None
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