Non-essential employees continue to work remotely

Published March 21, 2020

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To all employees from Mark Coldren, Associate Vice President, Human Resources

On March 20, the governor issued an executive order mandating that all employees from “non-essential businesses” stay home beginning March 22. This message is to reinforce that UB is still operating under guidance from the governor issued on March 17 regarding essential and non-essential employees at SUNY institutions.

According to this guidance, the essential employee designation includes those employees whose worksite presence is necessary to the continued operation of the university, who are integrally involved in the COVID-19 response effort, or those who must be present at the workplace in order to carry out their work-related duties and responsibilities. Under this guidance, essential employees include:

  • Faculty members who need to access offices to teach remotely
  • On-campus housing employees
  • Food service employees
  • Facilities employees

All non-essential SUNY employees have been assigned to perform their work-related duties and responsibilities from alternate work locations, via telecommuting. Non-essential status may change at the discretion of management; accordingly, employees should contact their supervisor daily to confirm their status. As the operational needs of the COVID-19 response change, management may modify specific job functions and/or work locations. For more information, please refer to UB’s March 17 memo “Information for Employees Regarding COVID-19.”

I encourage all non-essential employees working remotely to stay in regular contact with your supervisors and your co-workers via phone/Webex/Zoom/text, etc. It is very important for us to stay connected as a community. I know we all have a special appreciation for UB’s essential employees as they continue to support our students and University’s operations moving forward.  Please continue to monitor information on UB’s web site focused on COVID-19.