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All UCLA Research Administration & RPC Staff,

I am writing to provide an update of new information that became available since my message last month regarding employee benefits and resources as well as notices that may require your action/attention. I encourage you to read all the items below and enclosures to stay up to date on COVID-19 related topics and other information that may impact our work environment. Future summaries will continue to be distributed on a monthly basis to keep pace with the rapidly changing environment as new information becomes available.

Please note there is no update on UC President Drake’s system-wide curtailment proposal for 2020-21 or UCLA’s draft plan for an extended Winter Closure (see October 9th email below). That information will be shared upon receipt of the final decisions.

Benefits & Resources

  1. Open Enrollment is from Oct. 29th until Nov. 24th at 5pm. Employees must complete enrollment during this period, as exceptions cannot be made. All elections/changes take effect on January 1st, 2021.
  2. Extended Paid Administrative Leave is extended to June 30, 2021 by UC President Drake. The conditions for use of the leave and the one-time allotment of 128 hours (or 16 days) have not been changed. Please see the Amended Executive Order from President Drake (PDF) to review the executive order.
  3. Temporary Exception to Maximum Vacation Leave Accrual Limit is extended to June 30, 2021 by UC President Drake. No action is required by employees who reach the maximum limit and the exception request process is waived. During this period, employees who reach the vacation balance maximum will continue to accrue vacation leave above the limit. Supervisors are encouraged to work with their staff to reduce vacation balances below the maximum limit by June 30, 2021.
  4. COVID-19 Related Leaves and Job Protections Guidance and EPSL/EFML Request Forms updated by UCOP. See enclosed notice from Campus Human Resources (CHR) for update highlights.

Notices & Action Items

  1. Completion of Implicit Bias Series is extended to January 31, 2021 by AVC Marcia L. Smith and AVC Ann Pollack. Our ORA and RPC leadership team believes that all ORA and RPC staff will benefit from completing the UC Managing Implicit Bias Series. This is a series of six on-line courses designed to increase awareness of implicit bias and reduce its impact at the University. Completion of this educational program will be a consideration in all staff performance evaluations this year. We also recommend the seven-part implicit bias video series from UCLA Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. Please see attached September 29th email for details.
  2. UCLA CA COVID Notify Pilot. To learn more about the CA COVID Notify pilot at UCLA, see this UCLA Newsroom article. In addition, more information about CA COVID Notify is available on the state of California website. 

The main campus portal UCLA COVID-19 Resources contains guidance and updates for the Bruin community, the media and the broader public about UCLA’s ongoing response to the coronavirus pandemic. See “Information for Staff.”

Should you have any questions or need assistance with any of the items above, please contact me or Human Resource Manager, Grace Yi.

Thank you,

Rory Constancio
Senior Director, Office of Business & Financial Services
Senior Director, Office of Research Data Management