Guidance for Supervisors and Managers

Yes.  Graduate student instructor case management will follow the same process as outlined on the Responding to Suspected COVID-19 Cases for Faulty and Staff page.

The Health Department will begin contact tracing within the next 24-48 hours and will contact you directly if they feel that you might have been exposed.

Prior to returning to physically returning to work, the employee is required to obtain clearance from Employee Health. Upon receiving clearance, Employee Health will send the following notice to the employee and supervisor.

Emergency Management will coordinate appropriate facility cleaning with Facilities Management upon receipt of the notification. Additional follow up may be required with you to confirm the employee’s physical work location(s) and areas that require cleaning.

UVA HR is ready to support managers and employees through this process, please reach out to askhr@virginia.edu for assistance. The HR Benefits, Leave and Payroll (BLP) team will reach out directly to the supervisor and employee to coordinate the appropriate leave options consistent with established standard operating procedures.

No.  If the faculty or staff member has been working remotely and not been on Grounds, a co-worker notification is not necessary.

As a manager or supervisor, you are likely in the best position to have a sense of who was and was not in close physical contact with an employee who tests positive.  While we recommend erring on the side of caution and including the employee(s) in the distribution of the message, if you have a clearer sense of those who need to receive a notification, you are welcome to send the co-worker notification to a more localized group of individuals.

Within Arts & Sciences, we will provide a list of email addresses by Wednesday, September 9 that can be used to send the co-worker notification to those assigned to specific buildings.  These distribution lists will enable you to send a broad notification and facilitate transparency.  Sending notifications are likely cause employee concerns about whether they were exposed to the positive co-worker. We recommend using your discretion and consider this guidance when sending the co-worker notification and using the building email distribution lists.

To avoid the risk of sharing inaccurate information, we recommend waiting for the official secure email notification from Employee Health before sending a co-worker notification.  If you have not received the secure email notification, please check your spam folder or contact Employee Health.

Managers and supervisors should not contact individuals to determine whether they came in contact with someone with a positive diagnose.  And in all cases, managers must maintain the confidentiality of the identity of the infected individual. “Co-worker notification” is not the same as contact tracing. The Virginia Department of Public Health is responsible for contact tracing, which involves connecting with individuals who may have come in close contact with a confirmed positive case. Co-worker notification operates very differently.

As a manager or supervisor, you are likely in the best position to have a sense of who was and was not in close physical contact with an employee who tests positive. If you are unsure of the status of whether an employee(s) should be included in the notification, we recommend erring on the side of caution and including the employee(s) in the distribution of the message.   While individuals who are working remotely all the time likely do not need to know of a confirmed positive case since they are not likely to have been exposed, being broad and inclusive in the not

“Co-worker notification” is not the same as contact tracing. The Virginia Department of Public Health is responsible for contact tracing, which involves connecting with individuals who may have come in close contact with a confirmed positive case. Co-worker notification operates very differently.  Managers and supervisors should not contact individuals to determine whether they came in contact with someone with a positive diagnose.  And in all cases, managers must maintain the confidentiality of the identity of the infected individual.