COVID-19 Employee Updates | April 15, 2020

Dear Colleague:

I hope this finds you well, staying safe, and adjusting to our new environment. I wanted to take an opportunity to provide you with a summary of the informational updates for CSUN employees during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as policies and resources for those working on campus and remotely.

As a reminder, the COVID-19 website is an up to date resource for additional questions you may have.

Cal Employee Connect

Now you can view your Pay Warrant (paycheck) Information and Access IRS Form W-2s Online, anytime! The State Controller’s Office (SCO) has launched Cal Employee Connect (CEC), a secure web-based employee self-service portal available to California State employees.

This tool allows California State University (CSU) employees to view up to three (3) years of pay warrant/direct deposit advice and annual W-2’s issued by the State Controller’s Office (SCO). Grab your latest pay warrant and register today! Learn more, including how to register at www.csun.edu/payroll/cec.

Emergency Pay

Employees in Bargaining Unit 2, 5, 7, and 9 (CSUEU) and Bargaining Unit 6 (Teamsters) who continue to come to campus to perform critical functions will be provided emergency pay per their respective collective bargaining agreements. The emergency pay is retroactive to Friday, March 20, 2020. We ask supervisors to continue to ensure all work that can be performed remotely/virtually is encouraged and done so.

Those employees working at home are not eligible for emergency pay. Additionally, employees in Bargaining Units 1, 3, 4, 8, and 11, as well as those employees in the Confidential classification and MPP are not eligible for emergency pay.

Parking

As communicated in President Harrison’s email of April 6, with most faculty and staff now working remotely, CSUN will suspend automatic monthly payroll deductions for parking for the April and May 2020 pay periods. Employees not on automatic payroll deduction who purchased a semester or annual pass, may contact Parking Services via email parking@csun.edu to request a partial refund in accordance with the refund schedules on the Parking Services website.

Employees required to report to campus to provide essential services during April and May are asked to display their parking permits as normal. However, please note that suspension of payroll deductions and refund options will apply to all employees regardless of whether they are working remotely or on-campus. Monthly payroll deductions are anticipated to resume for the June pay period, and employees will be notified if conditions change.

COVID-19 Paid Administrative Leave (CPAL)

The Chancellor’s Office and campus presidents have granted 256 hours of COVID-19 Paid Administrative Leave for eligible employees. The paid Administrative Leave is for purposes relating to COVID-19 including your own illness, caring for a family member who is ill, needing to self-quarantine, determination by an Appropriate Administrator that work cannot be performed at home, and impacts of childcare/school closures. The leave hours will be pro-rated for employees who work less than full-time.

Please contact Employee Relations for additional information at er@csun.edu or 818-677-6566.

Student Assistants

Our Student Assistants and Work Study students have been provided opportunities to work at home. When this is not feasible, we have committed to compensating Student Assistants and Work Study students through the end of the semester so that they can focus on their academics and not worry about maintaining an income.

DIY Masks

CSUN is also making available to every employee working on campus a CSUN bandana DIY kit to make their own face covering. Protect yourself, protect others around you, and show your CSUN resilience and pride. Check with your manager on how to get your very own kit.

Virtual Resources

Human Resources has compiled resources from across campus to help you teach and work remotely and created a Resources for Successfully Telecommuting web-page. Here you'll find information to help you work efficiently and safely, as well as resources and suggestions on keeping your mind and body healthy, or fun things you can do while staying safe at home.

Employee Assistance Program - MyLifeMatters.com

In these difficult times, your Employee Assistance Program benefits provider, LifeMatters, is well-prepared to deliver the quality services you and your household members are accustomed to receiving. They are providing telephonic and video counseling sessions through their national network of Master’s level counselors using a HIPAA compliant telehealth platform in addition to a special COVID-19 section that is updated on an ongoing basis. Please contact them for support at MyLifeMatters.com (password matadors).

Online Concert Featuring Artist-in-Residence Niv Ashkenazi

The Soraya is proud to present a live online broadcast from its stage on Friday, April 17 at 4 pm. The concert will feature Artist-in-Residence violinist Niv Ashkenazi, who released his new CD (copies available on Amazon.com) just before the cancellation of Violins of Hope. The CD, as well as this concert, are performed on one of the instruments from the Violins of Hope collection. For this concert, Niv will perform a prepared a 30-minute excerpt from his CD. Compliant with all social distancing measures and working from different locations, Niv will be interviewed by Thor Steingraber prior to his performance.

Put this on your calendar. It’s historic – in the midst of this crisis, we experience music from a violin that witnessed one of the last great global crises, the Holocaust. Detailed instructions about how to join this live event are available at https://www.thesoraya.org/calendar/details/ashkenazi.

If you have questions that are not addressed above or in the COVID-19 Information page, please contact Human Resources/Employee Relations at er@csun.edu, or (818) 677-6566.

Thank you.

Kristina