On March 14, University of Nebraska employees were given the option to take up to 80 hours of paid administrative leave to care for family or if they needed to self-quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
NU President Ted Carter said Thursday the university would grant an additional 80 hours of emergency leave to all employees, including full- and part-time faculty and staff, temporary and student workers.
The expansion — all NU employees are now eligible to take up to 160 hours of paid emergency leave — comes after schools, businesses and cities shut down to prevent further spread of the novel coronavirus.
"Hundreds of you have used the emergency leave already, and we expect that to grow as we settle into our 'new normal' of balancing work, the care and education of children whose schools are closed, and other personal responsibilities," Carter wrote in an email to the NU community.
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NU ordered employees who are able to work from home to start this week, but Carter acknowledged that not every employee has that option.
The opportunity to take paid emergency leave "has been a source of relief and peace of mind" for those employees who need to care for family during "what we can all agree are unprecedented challenges," he said.
Carter said the university was also expanding its "crisis leave bank," allowing employees to deposit unused vacation time to their colleagues who need it.
"This simple strategy, requiring no action on your part, will build a larger cushion for colleagues in crisis," Carter said. "And it aligns with our goal to take care of each other in a difficult time."