Coronavirus Resources

Policy

Time Off for Coronavirus

Anyone who is taking time off that is related to the coronavirus (illness or caring for others, including childcare) should follow these guidelines.

  1. Email ca-schedule if your availability drops or you have a shift in schedule
  2. If this is a regular event (e.g. daily childcare), block it out in your calendar and make it "public" which allows other CivicActioners to see it.
  3. Communicate with your team and PO about your availability and discuss impact.
  4. Use slack status to indicate when you are offline during regular working hours.
  5. In Harvest, log time off to "[CA]: Coronavirus Timeoff". You can choose the "task" of "care for others" or "care for self".
  6. If you are doing community service work please log that under "CivicActions: Community Participation" in Harvest. (We encourage everyone who can to contribute 2 hours a week back to your community)

Coverage Plans

We have asked that projects and key individuals put together coverage plans to identify responsibilities and to avoid any single point of failure, in the event that they are unexpectedly out of office. Not everyone will have access to the links below but if you are on the project or are a backup person, you will have access to the documentation that affects you.

Cancellation of non-critical meetings

CivicActions is cancelling any non-critical meetings through March. After March, those meetings are all optional. During this period, we are attempting to make space for those who have family members at home and also for projects that may have teammates less available. Our intention is to give the majority of our focus to our project work and a new initiative to move the government towards distributed work. We are looking for ways for people to feel some spaciousness without feeling isolation, so if you need connections beyond your project work, please ensure you're getting them by reaching out to your pod channel, manager or check-in person for support. The list of meetings can be found in the slack announcement.

Coronavirus Family First Response Act

The Federal Government has enacted the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, a plan aimed at addressing the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on Americans and introducing paid sick leave and an expanded family and medical leave act to the nation's employers.

The most noticeable impact for CivicActions is that we have created a Coronavirus Time Off category in Harvest. If you take time off related to coronavirus you should record the time off under one of the two categories for Coronavirus Time Off.

If you are experiencing or expecting a significant impact on your ability to work, please reach out to Elizabeth or a member of the People Ops team, so we can figure out how we might be able to support you.

Health

Key facts:

  • The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) may be stressful for people. Fear and anxiety about a disease can be overwhelming and cause strong emotions in adults and children. Coping with stress will make you, the people you care about, and your community stronger. Source & more information
  • Diseases can make anyone sick regardless of their race or ethnicity. Fear and anxiety about COVID-19 can cause people to avoid or reject others even though they are not at risk for spreading the virus. Source See also: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/reducing-stigma.html
  • For most people, the immediate risk of becoming seriously ill from the virus that causes COVID-19 is thought to be low. Older adults and people of any age who have serious underlying medical conditions may be at higher risk for more serious complications from COVID-19 Source See also: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/specific-groups/high-risk-complications.html
  • Someone who has completed quarantine or has been released from isolation does not pose a risk of infection to other people. Source

  • There are simple things you can do to help keep yourself and others healthy.

    • Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing; going to the bathroom; and before eating or preparing food.
    • Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
    • Stay home when you are sick.
    • Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.

    Source

  • You can help stop COVID-19 by knowing the signs and symptoms:

    • Fever
    • Cough
    • Shortness of breath

    Seek medical advice if you develop symptoms. Call ahead before you go to a doctor's office or emergency room.

    Source \ Video summary

  • Most people who get sick with COVID-19 will have only mild illness and should recover at home. Older adults and people of any age with certain serious underlying medical conditions should seek care as soon as symptoms start. \ Care at home can help stop the spread of COVID-19 and help protect people who are at risk for getting seriously ill from COVID-19. \ If you are caring for someone at home, monitor for emergency signs, prevent the spread of germs, treat symptoms, and carefully consider when to end home isolation. Source

Key resources:

Balance

  • Prioritize your health and family health. By doing so you are contributing to flattening the curve reducing the stress on our health care system.
  • We encourage everyone who is able to do safely to give back up to two hours per week for community service. If you are in a high risk group, look for opportunities to contribute remotely or safely.
  • It is okay to have kids with you on calls or in the room. By default children are welcome to attend calls.
  • Block off times in your day to attend to caregiving for others including helping or conducting homeschooling activities. Please make sure to record this time in your Harvest timesheet.
  • If your local community guidelines allow it, take walks outside with your family. You can do this before or after work, or if it works for your family adjust your schedule to do it during the day.
  • Adjust your daily routine to accommodate that you may have more people home all day. You may want to consider adjusting your schedule to allow you to have lunch with your family everyday. It is okay to ask others to reschedule meetings to let you do this.
  • Be flexible in supporting others you might need to adjust their work schedule or ask to change the times of regular meetings to accommodate changes in their life outside of work.
  • Consider managing your social media usage and news intake, especially if you find it increases stress levels.
  • The team has collated ideas and tips for having kids at home while we're working
  • The team has collated ways to support our communities during Coronavirus