Massini: Penn State Health takes steps to secure employee pay and benefits during COVID-19 crisis
Penn State Health CEO Steve Massini sent the following email to employees across the health system on Thursday:
Our Penn State Health workforce is on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic and fully focused on serving the needs of our patients and communities. I am humbled by your commitment and courage during this unprecedented challenge. Penn State Health is working to implement a comprehensive pay and benefits security program to honor your commitment and help support our entire Penn State Health family as we work together to respond to this public health crisis and its economic ramifications.
The pay and benefits security program ensures that all employees will continue to receive their current regular compensation through May 9 (end of biweekly pay period for paychecks issued on Friday, May 15). This program ensures that employees who are redeployed to alternative duties during their regular hours, and staff who are asked to stay home without work as a result of reduced hours, continue to receive at least their regular compensation. Employees will also maintain their level of benefits during this time, even if working in alternative roles due to COVID-19.
More than 5,000 employees of Penn State Health, its hospitals and clinics have been asked to work remotely during the pandemic to help reduce the potential spread of the virus. Other staff have been redeployed to different locations and jobs as patient services have been temporarily reduced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. These efforts will continue into the future.
This pay and benefits security program is in addition to the steps that the health system has already taken to support employees, including WELL Pay, a program that provides pay for up to 14 days/shifts for employees who may have been exposed to the coronavirus and are required to quarantine at home and are unable to fulfill their work responsibilities remotely. Effective this past Monday, March 30, an employee who meets any of the COVID-19 symptom criteria (either through self-check or at a screening location) and is required to stay home or asked to return home is eligible to receive WELL Pay if they are unable to work remotely. WELL Pay for these employees will be used until they are released to return to work by Employee Health or have met the maximum amount of WELL Pay, whichever occurs first.
Additionally, effective March 16, 2020, Penn State Health has designated the ability to use CARE Pay for up to three shifts of time away from work due to child care and elder care closures related to COVID-19. We have also shared resources related to child care centers that remain open to help care for your kids during this time, and we will continue to update these resources as more options become available.
Out of concern for the safety of our patients and staff, we remind you that if you are sick, you should not come to work. Beginning March 16 and during a time frame as designated by Penn State Health, unscheduled absences due to illness will not count toward the Penn State Health attendance policy. This temporary exclusion of unscheduled absences also allows missing work due to lack of child care or elder care resources as a result of COVID-19 closings.
Please know that we continue to formalize our staff redeployment plans. Through these efforts, we can determine how best to align work needs in other areas with employees who have capacity due to clinic closures or canceled procedures. I ask that you be flexible and make every effort to help your Penn State Health family where these needs exist. If staff are offered alternative, temporary work duties and decline the work, they may be required to use paid time off and may not be eligible for the other programs described above.
It is inspiring to see how our team already has come together to support each other in new and different ways. Let’s keep that spirit of collaboration going. Penn State Health is committed to continuing to review our pay and benefits practices to ensure that as this situation evolves, we remain competitive and supportive of our workforce.
Thank you for your efforts in caring for one another and for our patients during this time. Your actions demonstrate a shared commitment to our vision to be Pennsylvania’s most trusted health care organization. Please stay safe, stay focused and stay healthy.
Steve Massini
CEO, Penn State Health
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