COVID-19 Time Reporting

COVID-19 Banks are Discontinued Effective May 14, 2023

Effective May 14, with the start of a new biweekly pay period, access to the university’s emergency COVID-19 paid time off (PTO) program will end.  The last date for employees to utilize their COVID-19 PTO is May 13.  Michigan Medicine’s 120-hour special-use PTO bank will also be discontinued as of May 14. 

COVID PTO time was reported using a combination of the RPN and PAN timekeeping codes.  As of May 14, employees should no longer report RPN/PAN time, and time approvers should no longer approve this combination of time reporting codes.

Absences for COVID should be reported using existing time reporting codes for short term sick, extended sick (COVID absences of 10 or more business days), PTO or vacation, as appropriate.

Questions can be directed to COVID-19HR@umich.edu

Human Resources FAQs COVID PTO (Paid Time Off) Banks Sunsetting

Q. What happens after May 13th if we currently have an employee out with COVID and are using the COVID PTO bank? A. Your employee may continue using COVID PTO until EOD May 13, 2023. Beginning May 14, 2023, the employee will need to use their own time off banks such as PTO, Sick time, or no pay if they do not have time.

Q. How do we track absences related to COVID-19? A. Absences related to COVID-19 will be tracked according to departmental time off policies, utilizing PTO, vacation, sick time, extended sick or no pay as appropriate. RPN/PAN and PCP codes should no longer be used after May 13, 2023

Q. How do we handle new hires and requirements for COVID-19? A. The policy for Michigan Medicine has not changed. All new hires are still required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or have an approved exemption. All new hires after May 15th will be required to have the bivalent vaccine.

Q. Are our current employees required to get the bivalent vaccine? A. No, anyone that is currently compliant with the COVID-19 vaccine policy will stay compliant.

Q. I never used my COVID-19 PTO bank, will it be added to my PTO bank? A. No, unused COVID-19 PTO does not transfer to an employee's PTO or Vacation/Sick banks.

Q. If the Special use 120 bank is no longer available after May 13, 2023, how do I code my time if I believe I contracted COVID from a positive patient I provided care for on my unit? A. Time off for a COVID-19 illness would be coded like other illnesses using the employee’s own time off banks. Bargained for members should refer to their bargaining contract for information about how to manage attendance issues caused by contagious diseases.

Q. Where should COVID vaccine records be uploaded? A. New hires and employees who have received their COVID vaccine should continue to upload them to Vax Viewer.

Q. If I get COVID-19 and I am restricted from returning to work will the absence be excused? A. If someone is currently testing positive for COVID-19, please refer to OHS work restriction guidelines. COVID-19 work restrictions 5-1-23 (umich.edu). If the employee is unable to report to work according to the guidelines, the absence should be excused. Please regularly refer to the above link for updates to work restrictions.

Q. Can I get COVID tested at OHS (Occupational Health Services) if I cannot access a home antigen test or get tested through my primary care physician? A. Beginning May 11, 2023, COVID-19 testing will no longer be available through Occupational Health Services. Employees with symptoms concerning COVID-19 should get tested using a home antigen test, through their primary care physician or by using a community testing resource. Employees who do not have access to COVID-19 testing should contact OHS, Monday through Friday, between 7am and 5pm, at (734) 764-8021. Select prompt 1 to speak to a nurse.

Q. I never used my COVID PTO banks, will they be paid out to me? A. No. Any unused time will not be paid out nor added to any other existing time off bank.

Q. An employee forgot to code their time as RPN/PAN when they had COVID earlier this year. Can they go back and code their time using COVID PTO now? A. Yes, time can be retroactively coded to the appropriate COVID PTO bank.

Q. If the COVID-19 banks are no longer available to use, do I still have to report my positive result to OHS? A. Employees that test positive for COVID-19 should continue to report their positive results through Wolverine Access. To report a positive COVID-19 test result for return-to-work purposes, please complete this survey. You can expect to receive a follow-up email when your results are processed. A call to OHS is not necessary.

Q. If I am COVID-19 positive and am restricted from returning to work in person, but feel well enough to work, can I work remotely? A. If your work can be completed remotely and your manager agrees, nothing precludes you from making this arrangement.

COVID-19 Time Reporting

The following guidance is provided to support adjustments made to time reported prior to May 14, 2023.

General Resources

Timekeeping Resources

For questions related to timekeeping, contact the pay analyst for your business unit. If you’re not certain who that is, you can use the Business Unit Lookup Tool to find their name and contact information. 

Paid Time Off Options During COVID-19 Pandemic

U-M COVID-19 Paid Time Off (RPN + PAN)

Available: March 13, 2020 – current; no expiration date

Eligibility: 

  • Employees hired on or before June 7, 2020
  • Employees who took a voluntary furlough in 2020 are not eligible for this benefit

Hours Available: 

  • 80 for full-time employees
  • Part-time and temporary employees, including student employees, are eligible for a prorated amount. See formula below for calculating bank for temporary employees

Used for:

  • COVID-19 PTO provides paid time off for absence from work due to quarantine, isolation or family care needs related to COVID-19 exposure, illness or other related scenarios. 

Time Reporting Codes: RPN + PAN

  • A sample time entry can be seen here. Those who do not report time in a central timekeeping system will have to track use of the time locally. Note that administrators approving time will see more hours reported than usual because of the two codes being used. Because only "RPN" is used for payment and "PAN" is used only for tracking, the employee will not be overpaid.

Additional Information: 

  • Bargained for Nurses: A comment should be entered into the timesheet to indicate the use of RPN/PAN under the MOU 639 so those hours can be identified when auditing employee banks. Temporary Employees:
  • Temporary Employees: Starting Jan 1, 2021, temporary staff hired prior to June 7, 2020 may be eligible for a COVID-19 PTO bank based on the average number of hours worked over an 8-week period. The prorated bank must be manually calculated before time is reported. For calculation steps, see Calculating COVID-19 Paid Time Off for Temporary Employees below. Temporary employees who become regular employees after June 7, 2020 and need to use COVID-19 PTO should also use the temp formula, starting with June 7, 2020 and going back 8 weeks from then.

 

Michigan Medicine COVID-19 120 Special Use PTO Bank (PCP)

Available: March 13, 2020 – current; no expiration date

Eligibility

  • No hire date requirement

Hours Available: 

  • 120 hours for full-time employees
  • Prorated for part-time and temporary employees

Used for: 

  • Employees who need to isolate as a result of contracting COVID-19 while providing direct care for confirmed COVID-19 patients. 

Time reporting code: PCP

Calculating COVID-19 Paid Time Off Banks for Temporary Employees

Calculating COVID-19 Paid Time-Off for Temporary employees

  1. Identify the start and end date for the 8-week period

Identify the first day COVID-19 Paid Time Off will be reported and count back 8 weeks. This will be the first day of the 8-week period.

Example: If the first day an employee is using the COVID-19 bank is Wednesday, March 18, counting backward 8 weeks, Wednesday, January 22, is the first day of the 8-week period. An alternative to counting back on a calendar is using this web-based date calculator set to “-“ and “8 weeks” as pictured here.

  1. Find the number of hours worked in the 8-week period

To find the number of worked hours, use this M-Pathways query: MTL_PAYABLE_TIME_EMPL_SUMM. This query identifies hours paid to an employee within a given range of dates. Input the employee ID number and record number, and then the start and end dates identified in Step 1 and click ‘View Results.’ The query will identify and sum all time reported during the 8-week period by time reporting code. Add all worked hours in the “Sum Quantity” column for the total hours worked in the 8 weeks. Be sure not to add shift, if any.

Note: It’s likely that not all worked hours will be in the system when this query is run. It may be necessary for departments to refer to time records outside the system.

  1. Calculate the bank

Using the sum of worked hours identified in Step 2, calculate the prorated bank using the following formula:

SUM ÷ 8 ÷ 40 x 80 = prorated bank

Here’s an example:

The query in Step 2 identifies that a temporary employee has worked 150 hours in the past 8 weeks.

150 ÷ 8 ÷ 40 x 80 = 37.5

The employee had 37.5 hours of COVID-19 paid time off available.

Common situations to help calculate remaining balances and employment statuses for COVID-19 PTO hours

Regular employee changing standard hours/FTE

  1. Using the auditing queries below, identify the amount of COVID Paid Time Off used by the employee and subtract that from the hours granted.

  2. Use the following formula to calculate the new balance:

COVID-19 balance / old FTE x new FTE = Updated COVID-19 PTO balance

Example: FTE Change 1.0 to .8 with balance of 80 COVID PTO hours

80 / 1 x .8 = 64

Employee status regular to temporary

  1. Calculate the temporary FTE for prior 8 weeks using the following formula:

average hours worked/40 = temp FTE

  1. Calculate the new balance using the following formula:

Remaining balance / temp FTE x regular FTE = new balance

Example: Employee goes regular to temp, has temp FTE of .6 and moves to regular position of .8 FTE with a balance of 48 COVID-19 PTO hours

48 / .6 x .8 = 64

Employees who changed status from temp to regular

If the employee did not use COVID-19 PTO hours as a temp and was hired as a regular employee on or before June 7, 2020, COVID-19 PTO bank will be based on regular appointment FTE.

Employees who used hours as a temp and then were hired as a regular on or before June 7, 2020

COVID-19 PTO balance / Temp FTE x Regular FTE = new balance

(Temp FTE is the prior established temp FTE when they first used the bank)

Example: Temp to Regular with .9 Temp FTE and 1.0 Regular FTE with 72 hrs COVID-19 PTO balance

72 / .9 x 1.0 = 80 

 

Auditing COVID-19 Paid Time Off Banks

Auditing all COVID Paid Time Off Usage

Queries should be run prior to reporting any of these COVID-19 paid time off banks to ensure employees have time available.

The easiest way to audit use of all the COVID time is to use one of the queries below. These audits pull data for any date range for a single employee.

  • For single employee: ODS_MTL_PYBL_TIME_EMPL_ARC_DUR

  • For a static group: ODS_MTL_PYBL_TIME_GRP_ARC_DUR

  1. Click ‘send to excel spreadsheet’. 

  2. The following codes are COVID-19 Paid Time Off: 

  • RPN (do not include hours reported in April 2020)

  • RSP*

  • PCP

* Remember to include RSP when determining how much COVID-19 paid time off was used

    • This code is represents COVID-19 paid time off hours that were used as supplemental time for the Expanded FMLA time (PFL) when it was paid as ⅔ pay starting in May 2020

    • RSP was only used in 2020 as the Expanded FMLA time bank ended on 12/31/2020

Auditing for a Specific COVID Paid Time Off Bank

For more targeted audits the following queries can be used. All of the COVID-19 audit queries include archived data older than 6 months. 

RPN/PAN Reported Within Date Range: Identifies RPN/PAN used within the requested date range. Same query is available by static group or department ID.

  • MTL_RPN_PAN_GROUP_PAYABLE_DUR

  • MTL_RPN_PAN_DEPT_PAYABLE_DUR

RPN/PAN Do Not Match: Identifies RPN reported without PAN or PAN without RPN. Input first and last dates of pay period.

  • MTL_RPN_PAN_NOT_MATCH_DEPT

  • MTL_RPN_PAN_NOT_MATCH_GROUP

PEL Reported Within Date Range: Identifies PEL used within the requested date range. Same query is available by static group or department ID.

  • MTL_PEL_GROUP_PAYABLE_DUR

  • MTL_PEL_DEPT_PAYABLE_DUR

PFL Reported Within Date Range: Identifies PFL used within the requested date range. Same query is available by static group or department ID.

  • MTL_PFL_GROUP_PAYABLE_DUR

  • MTL_PFL_DEPT_PAYABLE_DUR

Timekeeper Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Below are questions specific to timekeeping and reporting. If you have other questions about eligibility for any of the paid time off benefits, or other related topics, refer to the HR FAQ.

Q1: Is COVID-19 PTO available for use to cover absences related to side effects of the vaccine?
A: PTO/Sick/Vacation time will need to be used first, if any time off is needed due to side effects from the COVID-19 vaccine. When this time is exhausted, employees may use COVID PTO, if they are eligible and have not already exhausted the time off bank (see eligibility here).

Q2: Are managers/supervisors giving employees time during their shifts to go get vaccinated, or do they have to go on personal time?
A: Managers and supervisors are encouraged to be flexible and accommodating to employees when it comes to scheduling their vaccine appointments. However, this may vary from unit to unit due to clinical and staffing needs. There may be situations where it would be best for employees to schedule their vaccination before or after their shifts or during their breaks. Employees may use COVID PTO for vaccination appointments.

Q3: Can COVID-19 PTO be used intermittently?
A: Yes, COVID-19 PTO can be used intermittently if the situation calls for that.

Q4: Can the Michigan Medicine COVID-19 120 Special Use Paid Time Off hours be used intermittently?
A: Due to the nature of employee eligibility for this bank, we do not expect to see intermittent use. 

Q5: What is the significance of "PAN?"  Does this pay come from a different pool from the normal?
A: PAN allows for tracking of COVID19 one-time banks used by employees affected by the virus in accordance with specific criteria previously communicated. 

Q6: When I input the hours with the two codes RPN/PAN, one on each line, it doubles the hours. Is this correct?
A: Yes, that is correct. PAN is a tracking code only to indicate those are hours being used from the COVID-19 PTO banks.

Q7: I have monthly exempt staff who are using some of the COVID-19 PTO bank hours. They are only using 2 hours on some days and 4 hours on other days. Are they to code RPN/PAN time in ½ day increments or hour for hour?
A: For use of the COVID-19 PTO banks exempt staff should report RPN/PAN in ½ day increments, same as when reporting normal PTO.

Q8: Is shift premium paid on RPN/PAN when using the COVID-19 PTO banks?
A: Yes, hours reported as RPN/PAN are to be treated like worked hours in regards to shift premium pay. 

Q9: Can work-study students continue working?
A: Yes, at this time, students (with or without Work Study) may continue working. Remote work is allowable and encouraged.