COVID-19 (coronavirus) advice for the UQ community - STAFF

A new and specific leave entitlement of up to 10 working days (pro-rata*) is available to eligible staff to support them in dealing with the impacts of COVID-19. The table below outlines various scenarios and the leave provisions that apply. Provisions for casual staff are also outlined below.

If COVID-19 Special Leave is exhausted, staff should consider other leave options such as flex-time, TOIL (Time Off In Lieu) and VBT (Voluntary Banked Time) and consult with their HR Business Partner. Managers should seek support and any clarification required from their HR Business Partner or AskHR askhr@uq.edu.au or 07 3365 2623.

Please note COVID-19 Special Leave is a discretionary entitlement and is subject to change at any time, without notice. COVID-19 Special Leave provisions are effective from Monday 16 March, 2020.

Further information, including scenarios, evidence requirements, exceptions and information for casual staff can be found here. 

The following is a summary of the key recommendation and actions to follow. The full details can be found here (PDF, 235.5 KB)

• Use videoconference or teleconference for meetings, and cancel or postpone any non-essential face to face meeting
• In circumstances where face to face meetings are essential, reduce the number of attendees to only those deemed critical, maintain at least 1.5 metres between attendees at all times and reduce length of meetings (meetings should be well under 2 hours). The Australian Government has advised that all indoor and outdoor non-essential gatherings must be limited to 2 people.
• Do not share equipment including pens, keyboards, table tops, etc.
• Remember it is essential to practice impeccable hand and respiratory hygiene - avoid touching your face with your fingers and any physical contact such as shaking hands
• Keep record of attendance
• And remember, you should not be at work if you feel ill

UQ remains open and operational and will continue to do so unless it receives specific instructions from the Government to close.

On Tuesday 24 March, the Government recommended that all people work from home wherever possible. Accordingly, managers across the University have been working to operationalise this recommendation with immediate effect. At this stage, staff who cannot work from home can continue working on campus, noting hygiene and physical distancing guidelines.

Staff who cannot work from home, or are required to attend campus to deliver critical operations may discuss their individual circumstances or working arrangement with their supervisors. Decisions to allow working from home or alternate work arrangements should be considered case by case by supervisors to ensure critical University operations can continue.  

Whether working from home or on campus, it is expected that staff and managers will take necessary steps to ensure that day-to-day work commitments are met.

Be mindful that various conditions can produce cold or flu-like symptoms. People can have normal cold and flu viruses at any time, and we are moving closer to the Australian flu season so these may increase.

It is reasonable to check on the welfare of a student and ensure that they are aware of the latest health advice. 

If a student presents as unwell and has cold and flu-like symptoms, their supervisor should ask them to contact UQ Health Care or their preferred medical practitioner, making sure to call ahead to explain their symptoms prior to attending in person.

Importantly, if anyone feels unwell and has the onset of any cold or flu-like symptoms, they should stay at home and not attend campus. This is important to facilitate a quick recovery for them, and it is also important for their colleagues and friends whose health should be protected. 

There are a lot of people feeling anxious about COVID-19 and what catching the virus might mean for their specific circumstances - and that is absolutely understandable. There is a risk associated with being in any public space right now - whether that is at work, on public transport, at the shops, or at uni. Practicing health hygiene habits is the best way to mitigate these risks. See our health section here for more. If you're struggling with anxiety or worry about COVID-19, check the Head to Health's COVID‑19 support page which outlines some steps you can take.
 

1. Staff and supervisors should work together to identify what roles and duties can be performed remotely. Your team members should record any working from home (WFH) arrangement in MyAurion (instructions here).
2. Ensure that you’ve discussed home workspaces with your staff, have identified what technology and support they will need, and organised to have regular contact via email, Zoom or other methods to keep staff updated. A resource on IT setup can be found here.

A full guide to working at home is available here. Hints on how to look after your health while working from home are available here.

It is possible that due to COVID-19, access to UQ’s campuses may be limited. If this happens, staff (where possible) will need to work remotely to continue their vital work, and the University will support you to prepare for this. Staff may also need to work from home to care for others, or because they’ve been directed to self-isolate.

If you do need to work from home, your supervisor will be in regular contact to ensure staff are kept informed; workloads and outputs are reviewed and support is provided as required.

Your employment terms and conditions, University policies, and relevant workplace legislation still apply when working from home.

If approved to work from home, you are still covered by worker's compensation while performing University work.

A full guide to working at home is available here. Hints on how to look after your health while working from home are available here.

If you are a UQ staff member and are impacted by any of the restrictions please advise your supervisor, who will in turn will work with you to provide the necessary support.

Semester 1 timetables have changed. Please refer to the academic calendar for key dates.

Read the latest government advice on international travel here. Advice on domestic travel can be found here. For non-UQ travel advice contact your travel agent or airline.

For the latest advice on UQ travel click here.

You should have a conversation with your supervisor so they are aware of your personal circumstances during this time. If you're struggling with anxiety or worry about COVID-19, check the Head to Health's COVID‑19 support page which outlines some steps you can take.

If you are a staff member who requires support, UQ offers a free, confidential counselling service through Benestar, the Employee Assistance Program (EAP). 

Our teams are well-placed to provide support and advice, and put in place all necessary arrangements.

You should try to have regular conversations with your supervisor about any COVID-19 related questions you may have.

For general COVID-19 staff related questions, you can call HR on +61 (07) 3365 2623 or email askhr@uq.edu.au.

If a member of staff has been diagnosed, or contacted by Queensland Health and asked to self-isolate, email askhr@uq.edu.au or call HR on +61 (07) 3365 2623.

For students, please contact Student Services +61 (07) 3365 1704 or toll free within Australia: 1800 512 391.

UQ students on placement in health, aged care, education, food sciences and vet industries must be in Australia for 14 days before commencing.

The Australian Government advised all travellers not to travel overseas at this time.

Seek advice from the UQ Travel web site, and particularly, UQ Travel’s COVID-19 (coronavirus) update page. 

In light of the evolving COVID-19 situation, the University has made the decision to cancel or postpone all events that are not integral to our teaching and /or research programs. Unless otherwise announced, this directive will remain in place until 30 June 2020, in the first instance.

Such cancelled events include those for students, alumni and staff and other events on campus that are being run, hosted, or controlled by the University.

No. Vaccines for the flu do not provide protection against the new coronavirus. The virus is so new and different that it needs its own vaccine. Researchers are currently working to develop a vaccine against COVID-19.

Although the annual flu vaccine is not effective against COVID-19, participation in the annual vaccination program is highly recommended to protect your health and staff are encouraged to take advantage of the free flu vaccination available at UQ this year. You can book an appointment for this year’s program here.

• If you have a staff member who has returned or is returning from Hong Kong, Italy or South Korea, they must not attend work or undertake research in health, aged care, education, food sciences and vet industries for 14 days from the date of departure from these countries. 
• If you have a staff member returning from mainland China or Iran, they must not attend work or undertake research in the above industries for 14 days from the date of departure from these countries.
• Anyone arriving from overseas travel, from any country, must self-isolate for 14 days.

Be mindful that various conditions can produce cold or flu-like symptoms. People can have normal cold and flu viruses at any time, and we are moving closer to the Australian flu season so these may increase.

It is reasonable to check on the welfare of a  colleague and ensure that they are aware of the latest health advice. If a colleague presents as unwell at work and has cold and flu-like symptoms, their supervisor should ask them to contact their medical practitioner (or UQ Health Care) for advice on an appropriate course of action, prior to physically attending.

Importantly, if anyone feels unwell and has the onset of any cold or flu-like symptoms, they should stay at home and not attend campus. This is important to facilitate a quick recovery for them, and it is also important for their colleagues and friends whose health should be protected. 

Staff should use UQ’s sick leave provisions.

If you use your own phones or internet for work purposes, you may be able to claim a deduction if you:

• Paid for these costs and
• Have records to support your claims.

If you use your phone for internet for both work and private use, you will need to work out the percentage that reasonably relates to your work use.

Further details can be found on the ATO website.

Your preparations and plans should aim to:

• Protect the health and safety of staff, students and research participants
• Maintain research reputation and capacity
• Deliver on critical research projects
• Meet compliance requirements
• Align with the latest advice from state and federal government agencies 

Individual researchers and teams should evaluate their current and upcoming research activities. A plan to minimise disruption to these research activities should be made.

Actions you could take now include:

• Identify research activities that need to continue, and those that could be delayed if necessary;
• Identify who is responsible for each research activity, including at least two alternates to allow continuation if staff are absent (for any reason);
• Identify and conduct any training or instruction needed for these alternates;
• Let others know the location and accessibility of relevant research protocols or instructions for continuation of research activities;
• Ensure you and your team have up to date contact information in MyAurion, and share key contacts with each other;
• Start practicing backup/workflow redundancy wherever possible
• Consider the critical nature of any equipment, plant and other infrastructure (including IT hardware/software) for research activities; plan for disruption to access and consider options to mitigate as far as possible;
• Implement a plan to ensure you have sufficient consumables for research activities, where possible;
• Develop a communication plan for your research activities. This could include an “emergency contact” (or contacts) for critical research activity continuation, if relevant.

UQ has developed a definition of critical research to help identify research activities that are critical. Please apply your professional judgement and understanding of your objectives, obligations and operations to make your final decisions.

The definition can be found in the FAQ section on the UQ Research website. 

Continuing and fixed-term professional staff can request a change to work hours, days or work pattern through my.UQ. You must discuss your request with your supervisor. Your supervisor will need to consider your request and the impact on the organisational unit's operations.

Many professional staff at UQ must work within a standard spread of hours. If you initiate a change to your work hours or days beyond the spread of hours applicable to your role under The University of Queensland Enterprise Agreement 2018-2021, your new arrangement will be considered ordinary time and paid at ordinary rates (penalty rates are not applicable).

Changing your work hours, days or work pattern may impact your leave entitlements. For more information:

• talk to your HR Client Services team
• read the Hours of Work and Flexible Work Arrangements Policies [5.55].

Instructions to complete your request can be found here. Please ensure that if you are working from home due to COVID-19, you have registered the details in MyAurion.

Example: My staff member wants to work early mornings or weekends from home to accommodate caring responsibilities while schools are closed/pupil free as a result of COVID-19. Can they do so?

Many professional staff at UQ must work within a standard spread of hours. That means, in order to work outside these hours, they will need to request a change to work hours, days or work pattern through my.UQ. If a staff member initiates a change to their hours or days beyond the spread of hours applicable to their role under The University of Queensland Enterprise Agreement 2018-2021, the new arrangement will be considered ordinary time and paid at ordinary rates, penalty rates are not applicable.

Academic staff and professional staff at or above HEW Level 8 have no standard spread of hours, therefore supervisors may approve these arrangements on a case by case basis.

For more information:

• talk to your local HR Client Services team
• read the Hours of Work and Flexible Work Arrangements Policies [5.55].

Remember to ensure if you and your team are working from home due to COVID-19, details need to be registered and maintained in MyAurion.

Flexible work options

If you have team members trying to balance caring responsibilities and existing workloads, or they are adapting to working from home, you may choose to discuss flexible work options with them. Remember that changing work hours, days or work pattern may impact an individual’s salary and leave entitlements.

Leading a remote team

Guidance for leading a remote team is included in the COVID-19 Support Toolkit for Managers, available here.

For supervisors, it is recommended that you have at least daily short check-ins on phone or video with your direct reports and establish regular (eg daily or weekly) reporting frameworks on work in progress and completed. Supervisors need to maintain a sense of virtual presence and the best way to achieve this is to use video conferencing with video enabled or other ‘media rich’ communications. 

Make the best use of technology

UQ ITS have developed a Working Remotely pack to support supervisors with an overview of IT requirements and information for working off campus.

Remember to ensure if you and your team are working from home due to COVID-19, details need to be registered and maintained in MyAurion.

The eLearning team, library, and ITaLI are currently offering training sessions and professional development online via Zoom.

•  Library training page lists sessions on software, research skills, and publishing and research management.
• eLearning online workshops includes sessions on: virtual classroom(Zoom), Desktop recording, video assignments, Learn.UQ quizzes, test and exams
• ITaLI’s teaching and learning series is now being offered online.

Please check the COVID-19 (coronvirus) library services and ITaLI teaching and learning support pages to get current information about available services.

At this stage, The University of Queensland is not considered an eligible employer under the requirements of the new JobKeeper Payment subsidy . This means, UQ staff will not be eligible for the payment.