Dear Scripps College Faculty, Staff, and Student Summer Workers:
As you may have heard, late last week, Cal-OSHA (Division of Occupational Safety and Health) announced changes regarding masking and social distancing. Los Angeles County Public Health also revised its health orders to be consistent with State guidance. The College is a work site for all employees working on campus. As such, the College is required to follow Cal-OSHA and the state of California compliance standards. In addition to removing physical distancing as a required protocol, the revised masking requirements are largely based upon whether an individual employee has been fully vaccinated. The College has reviewed the new requirements and is, therefore, making the following changes to our current COVID-19 policies. All persons working on campus are required to follow these policies.
The Office of Human Resources will begin issuing letters to those that have submitted proof of vaccination clearing them from the requirements of wearing masks and testing while on campus.
VACCINATION REQUIREMENT
Based upon feedback of our community and in accordance with our goal of providing the safest campus possible for our community, upon full use authorization of a COVID-19 vaccine by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and reasonable access to vaccine doses, the College will require faculty and staff to receive a COVID-19 vaccination. Exemptions for documented medical reasons or a sincerely held religious belief may be requested. To petition for one of these exemptions, please contact the Office of Human Resources at [email protected].
TESTING
Fully-Vaccinated
Effective July 1, 2021, the campus will no longer require testing for those that have been fully vaccinated and submitted supporting documentation to Human Resources. If you have been vaccinated and have not uploaded your vaccination status, please upload your records to https://scrippscollege.formstack.com/forms/covid19_vaccination_confirmation
Unvaccinated
Those exempt from the vaccine requirement, unvaccinated individuals, or those who are in the process of getting fully vaccinated will continue to participate in mitigation testing twice a week. If you have any questions regarding your testing schedule, please contact [email protected].
MASKS
Fully-Vaccinated
Fully-vaccinated individuals will not be required to wear masks indoors or outdoors. However, if you prefer to continue wearing masks, please do so.
Unvaccinated/Partially Vaccinated
Unvaccinated or partially vaccinated individuals will not be required to wear masks outdoors, but will be required to wear masks indoors, except when in their office alone with the door closed. Unvaccinated or partially vaccinated may wear a standard mask or may request an N95 or Kn95 respirator.
SIGNAGE
Over the next couple of weeks, the campus will install updated signage regarding the revised masking requirements.
STUDENT EMPLOYMENT SUPERVISORS
The mask and testing changes apply to all student employees working on campus this summer. Please make sure to communicate those changes to your student employees.
FEELING ILL
If you are feeling ill, it is imperative that you stay home. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend that sick employees stay home if they are sick with flu-like illness until at least 24 hours after they are free of fever (100 degrees Fahrenheit or 38 degrees Celsius) or signs of a fever (have chills, feel very warm, have a flushed appearance, or are sweating). This should be determined without the use of fever-reducing medicines (any medicine that contains ibuprofen or acetaminophen). If you are experiencing any COVID-19 symptoms, please contact the COVID-19 support line to clear you to return to work. The telephone number for the support line is 909-308-2711.
TRAVEL
Travel increases the risk of becoming infected with and transmitting COVID-19, especially for those employees that are not vaccinated. However, the College recognizes that some business travel at this time is appropriate. Therefore, the travel policy has been updated to reflect that travel may be approved through an employees’ respective Vice President/Dean of Keck Science. The updated policy as to employee travel is available here.
WORKING ON CAMPUS
Over the next several weeks, employees will be hearing from their respective Vice President/Dean of Keck Science as when employees should be returning to work on campus. Please keep in mind that, while repairs are being made to one of the two electrical substations, in order to conserve electricity, the air conditioning will be set on campus to 77 degrees. For information as to physical modifications that have been made to the campus including the upgrading of the HVAC system, visit the Scripps Strong site.
UPDATES
As more information regarding the fall semester becomes available that collectively affects College employees, the Office of Human Resources will continue to provide updates. It is important to recognize that official guidance is ever-evolving and we will strive to provide updates in a timely manner.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Berklas SPHR-CA, GPHR, SHRM-SCP
Assistant Vice President, Human Capital & Risk Management