Click here to view a complete list of FAQ's related to returning to onsite work.

Status as of February 25, 2022

• You can find the Palomar College COVID-19 Recovery Plan here. It is a comprehensive
  plan that includes the District’s COVID-19 Prevention Plan.
• After a 3-week delay, Spring ’22 onsite teaching, learning and work began on February
  22. You can find information regarding the February 22 return in the Employee Communication Library.
• The District continues to enforce the Employee and Student COVID-19 Vaccination and
  Immunization Plans.

1. - Students are able to submit their proof of full vaccination through their My Palomar account.
2. - The College continues to make safety a top priority, and having full knowledge of the number of vaccinated employees allows us to plan and implement plans accordingly. As such, the College is requiring that all employees submit their vaccination status if they have not already provided proof of vaccination.
3. - If you have been fully vaccinated, but have not yet submitted proof of vaccination, please send proof to Human Resources in one of three ways:
4. i. (PREFERRED) Send an email to benefits@palomar.edu. In the subject line, enter “COVID-19 Proof of Vaccination”, and include your name, employee ID#, and proof.
   ii. U.S. Mail: Palomar College (Attn: Benefits Office), 1140 W. Mission Rd., San
   Marcos, CA 92069
   iii. Fax: (760) 761-3530
   If you have lost or misplaced your physical vaccination card, please visit Digital COVID-19 Vaccine Record (ca.gov) to obtain a replacement digital copy of your vaccination card for submission. You may also call the site you received your
   vaccination to request an additional physical vaccination card.

• The District will continue to ensure access to vaccines for students and employees. The
  schedule of vaccination events is available here.
• The District continues to make onsite COVID-19 PCR testing available to all employees and
  enrolled students. Appointments are required and must be made through the Cleared4
  platform. The testing schedule is on the COVID-19 webpage. Employees or students who
  have had COVID-19 in the last 90 days should not have a PCR test, rather they should
  pursue a COVID-19 antigen test. The District will be distributing antigen tests during the
  week of February 28, 2022.
• Prior to coming to campus, students and employees are required to complete the Cleared4
  daily health pre-screening. Every employee and enrolled student have received a personal
  link via an email from no-reply@cleared4work.com. This link provides access to the daily
  health pre-screening questionnaire.

The College is using the Cleared4 platform to help manage the implementation of the Employee Vaccination and Immunization Plan.  This same platform will be used for both employees and students.

1. Guide for Daily Cleard4 Health Screening Questionnaire
2. Guide for using Cleared4 for Required COVID-19 Testing (Required for COVID-19 testing for those with an approved medical or religious exemption.)

Effective October 11, 2022, all employees working onsite and all students taking face-to-face courses must be vaccinated or have received an approved medical or religious exemption. Employees who are concerned about this requirement or deadline should contact the Division of Human Resource Services by email the Benefits Office at benefits@palomar.edu.

Currently the District is not requiring  the submission of a booster. However, both BP/AP 5210 – Students and BP/AP 7330 – Employees give the District the ability to include boosters in its Vaccination and Immunization Plans. Based on current data, it is likely that boosters will be recommended 6-12 months after your last shot (second shot with Pfizer and Moderna; first shot with J and J).

Follow the link below to located prerecorded webinars and phone #s to Palomar's Employee Assistance Program.

Repopulation Emotional Support Survey and Resources

• Employees should stay home if sick. Notify your supervisor if you will miss work.
• If a person develops symptoms of COVID-19 including fever, cough or shortness of breath, and has reason to believe they may have been exposed, they should call their health care provider or local health department before seeking care. Contact in advance will ensure you can get care without putting others at risk.
• Employees who have a sick family member at home with COVID-19 should notify their supervisor and refer to CDC guidance or medical provider to conduct a risk assessment of their potential exposure.
• If an employee is confirmed to have COVID-19, please complete the COVID-19 Questionnaire immediately.  Employee confidentiality will be maintained while allowing the College to take appropriate action.
• Report absences on your time sheet or absence report.

Employers are generally limited in their ability to make health-related inquiries or require medical examination of employees, pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) (42 U.S.C., § 12100 et seq.) and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”) (Government Code, § 12900 et seq.)

Managers and supervisors should recommend to all employees who are sick to remain off-duty (i.e., on sick leave) until symptoms resolve, and that they seek medical assistance, as appropriate. Anyone sick and believed to be at risk for COVID-19 infection should be advised to seek medical assistance and follow the CDC recommendations. Managers and supervisors should seek assistance from Human Resources before taking any action to ensure that all appropriate options have been considered.  The CDC reports that COVID-19 symptoms include fever, cough and shortness of breath.

Employees or Supervisors should report a possible COVID-19 Case via the questionnaire

• Effective January 1, 2022 - September 30, 2022: SB114 (Supplemental Paid Sick Leave) is available.  Review the SB114 notice (Español) for details.  To access this COVID sick leave, contact the Benefits Office at benefits@palomar.edu for the form.
• Classified/Administrators/CAST/Full-Time Faculty/Part-Time Faculty:
  • Employees have access to their accrued sick leave for their own illness and if needed the extended illness leave which is 100 days of 1/2 pay leave that runs concurrently with sick leave (example if you have 20 days of sick leave you will have 80 remaining days of 1/2 pay leave). Each employee handbook or collective bargaining agreement gives more detail regarding sick leave accrual. If an illness or injury exceeds the 100 days the employee would work with Human Resources to evaluate the ability to return to work or apply for long-term disability insurance.
  • If a family member is sick, an employee can access the Personal Necessity leave which is 1/2 of your annual accrual (Full-Time employees get 12 days of sick leave per year, thus personal necessity would be 6 days of sick leave). Additional leave may be applicable please contact benefits@palomar.edu or call 760-744-1150 ext. 2609.
• Short-Term and Student Employees:
  Each year student and short-term employees receive three days of sick leave in accordance with the California “Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014 (Labor Code 245-249) for full information on accrual and use  please refer to this link: Sick Leave for Student and Short-Term Employees.

As a public education employer we do not participate in California State Disability Insurance. Instead employees have applicable sick leave. See the FAQ below for the information on sick leave.

Should you have additional employment contact EDD to determine your eligibility.

• If your hours are reduced due to a campus shut down  and you experience a loss of wages, you can file an Unemployment Insurance (UI) claim. UI provides partial wage replacement benefit payments to workers who lose their job or have their hours reduced, through no fault of their own. You should apply directly with the EDD, once they receive your application they work directly with Palomar College to obtain your work and salary history directly from Human Resources and Payroll.
• Federal Work Study (FWS) Employees:  Federal Work-study Students can be paid due to the Federal Work Study guidelines, please refer to the following webpage: https://www2.palomar.edu/pages/fa/federal-work-study/

Your supervisor will complete and sign your time-sheet and submit it to payroll. A copy will be provided to you. If there are any discrepancies your supervisor will work with you and payroll to resolve during the next pay cycle.

This will depend on the type of emergency, closure, or disaster.   The District is in the process of designating which employees and/or positions will be essential to the operations of Palomar College.

What does ‘disaster service’ mean? Disaster service means all activities authorized by and carried out pursuant to the California Emergency Services Act.

Everyone gets a paper mailed pay stub, to their mailing address on file in Human Resources, even if you have direct deposit.  To update your mailing address email the Address/Name Change Form to hrhelp@palomar.edu, if you need a verification of employment prior to receiving your pay stub you can request one by emailing hrhelp@palomar.edu

Permanent Employees and Students pay stubs are mailed on the last day of the month, Part Time Faculty on the 20^th, Short-Term Hourly on the 10^th.

**Currently, employees are not able to access their pay stubs electronically.

Pay for employees varies by the employee type and applicable employment laws and/or collective bargaining agreements.

Permanent employees will continued to be paid if they continue to perform regular work as agreed with their respective bargaining unit agreement. During this time social distancing operations will allow for modified work assignments as assigned by an employee's supervisor.

Per California Government Code Section 3100-3109, all  Palomar College employees are state-designated disaster workers. Employees may be required to remain on campus during a closure and perform duties based on essential needs. Palomar considers all permanent/probationary employees to be on-call during a campus closure and will remain on paid status. On-call means the ability to perform duties either in-person or remotely, as directed. Any employee who is unable to work will be required to use accrued leave in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement.

All hourly employees (Student, Short-Term, and Part-Time Faculty) will be paid if directed to perform work during the closure period.  If an employee suffers a loss of earnings an unemployment claim may be filed with EDD.

Federal Work-Study Students who do not report to work are able to receive pay due to the Federal Work Study guidelines, please refer to the following webpage for more information https://www2.palomar.edu/pages/fa/federal-work-study/