- What happens if an Action Team Member is infected with COVID-19?
- If you show symptoms of COVID-19 or if you test positive for COVID-19, please notify HR and stay home until:
- You have had no fever for at least 72 hours (that is three full days of no fever without the use of medicine that reduces fevers), and
- Other symptoms have improved (for example, when your cough or shortness of breath have improved), and
- At least 7 days have passed since your symptoms first appeared
Be sure that you consult with your doctor before you do anything else.
2. What will the company do if a team member tests positive or shows symptoms of COVID-19?
- HR will ensure that known infected team members do not come to work
- An evaluation will be conducted to identify Action team members who may have had direct exposure. While being sensitive to the privacy of the infected individual, the company will notify those team members who we believe had close, direct exposure* and they will be told that they likely had direct exposure to someone infected. All other team members in the same working environment will be notified generally that someone was infected in the area.
*Per the CDC, “Close Contact” is defined as a) being within approximately 6 feet of a COVID-19 case for a prolonged period of time; close contact can occur while caring for, living with, visiting, or sharing a health care waiting area or room with a COVID-19 case OR b) having direct contact with infectious secretions of a COVID-19 case (e.g., being coughed on).
Link from CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/guidance-business-response.html
- Team members who are uncomfortable or concerned about reporting to work will not be required to come to work. (See below.)
- We will continue to take active steps to disinfect working areas for our team members.
- We are building a “back-up” team as much as possible so that in the event of an infection of a team member, we have other team members who can fill in as needed.
- Please practice good social distancing so we can all help protect each other!
3. What happens if a team member is not comfortable coming to work because of concerns about COVID-19?
As a company, we want to do everything possible to address concerns you might have about COVID-19 and your job. However, if you discuss your concerns with your supervisor and with Human Resources and you are not comfortable with coming to work, and the position you hold does not allow for working from home, you may choose to not work. In that case, you may use sick days, vacation days, or take a leave of absence with unpaid time off. In any event, a position will be held for you for up to 12 weeks.
4. Reminder About Sick Day Policies
Everywhere except San Diego: Sick time accrues at a rate of 1 hour for every 30 hours worked, to a maximum cap of 72 hours (9 days).
San Diego: Sick time accrues at a rate of 1 hour for every 30 hours worked, to a maximum cap of 80 hours (10 days).
5. What happens if a team member has a member of their direct household with a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis?
- Supervisor and Human Resources should be notified
- Follow the CDC guidelines for Recommended Precautions for Household Members: (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/guidance-prevent-spread.html#precautions
Hi Action Team Members –
I cannot express how proud I am of our team as all of you find ways to thrive in difficult days and to help our resident thrive. Much of what we are all facing is serious and challenging. We want to try to balance that all out a little with some fun and creativity. With this in mind, we are issuing our first weekly newsletter – specifically aimed at our residents who are spending a whole lot more time at home than usual. Please see the attachment for the first issue of “Life at Home”. Included in this newsletter are ideas, suggestions and fun input for people at home. I thought you all might like to see what we are giving to our residents and that it might be fun for you as well. Our hope is that this newsletter will function as a bright highlight in difficult days.
Attachment:
Hi Action Team Members –
I am proud of our Action team. In these recent volatile weeks, I have witnessed many examples of extraordinary teamwork, true caring about people, excellent service, and extreme creativity and innovation to solve problems. Our values are being lived out across the state. Thank you all so much!
A few updates to give to all of you:
- A Public Health Order was issued today in Orange County restricting gatherings and businesses in the County. Please note that Action Property Management’s services are exempt from these restrictions and our home office remains open and operating. Many of our Irvine team members are working from home, but our support of all regional offices and on-site managed buildings and communities remains the same.
- A Shelter in Place Order was issued yesterday in the City and County of San Francisco (and surrounding counties). Action Property Management’s services have been defined as “essential” and our operations in the city continue.
As of right now, all other regions remain operational as normal. If further Health Orders are issued in other regions that would impact our operations, we will provide updates.
The recognition of our value is gratifying in that our services are deemed “essential”. This is not something that we take lightly. Our mission is to improve the quality of peoples’ lives. What better time to be able to do that than when the need is the greatest? Many of you are stepping up to that mission and living it out. Some have asked if we should continue to work when social distancing and sheltering in place are the call for the common good. Those practices are appropriate for the times in which we live – but we have an opportunity and ability to contribute in other significant ways for the common good. And in being deemed “essential,” governmental leadership is asking that we make those contributions.
More people are in their homes now. The needs for managing operations, packages, food delivery, janitorial, maintenance, finances, and more have never been greater. Our services are needed – and there are opportunities for us to perform them with creativity and excellence in ways that can actually contribute to better social distancing in our buildings and communities and improve health dynamics for everyone. I hope that you take pride in the position you are in to make a real difference. I know that our residents are in good hands.
Still, some questions arise from Action Team Members regarding how you might be personally affected by circumstances with this virus. Please see the attachment for a few common questions that are being asked and the answers to these questions.
We don’t know what tomorrow holds. But we know that if we continue to live our values – to care about people, to serve with excellence, to find innovative solutions, and to remain a team – then we can hold our heads high, knowing that we are facing the world’s biggest challenges in the best ways.
Thank you all!
Matthew
Good Afternoon,
In our continuing effort to proactively provide information and answer your questions, we have prepared the attached Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) document to address the common questions that we are receiving, and provide you with a chart of Benefits for Workers Impacted by COVID-19. Please review the attached information.
Thank you.
Paul Firth
Director of Human Resources
Attachment:
Action Team Members –
We live in challenging days. It is in these times that values prove to be true – or not. I want to address some matters concerning the coronavirus, but I first want to be clear about one thing: We are committed to the values we talk about – especially today. We will care about people. We remain passionate about excellence in all that we do. We will, in these times especially, embrace innovation and creativity to find better ways. And we will not forget that we are a team. We must remain a team.
Regarding the virus: please know that we are monitoring things very closely regarding how all of this affects our team members and our clients. We are reading everything from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and from the World Health Organization. We are talking to many experts. We are consulting with other business leaders. We are paying attention to local, state, and federal governmental agencies. We are engaging with doctors. We want to have the best information so we can make the best decisions.
Paul Firth distributed links to information from the CDC earlier this week. There is a lot of helpful and relevant information there. I encourage you to look at it.
Also, please note that we are taking extra precautions everywhere we have team members. We are contracting for additional cleaning services in each Action office to provide frequent disinfection of door handles, desks and other commonly touched surfaces. When possible, we are providing hand sanitizer, disinfectant spray, and even gloves to help protect Action Team Members. If your location is short on any of these supplies, please have your office manager or location manager contact Nicole Miranda. Note that, because of demand, we are also struggling to obtain many of these kinds of products, but Nicole will do her best to coordinate efforts and meet needs as quickly as possible.
For many Action team members, it really is not possible to do your job unless you are physically at work. So, we will do everything we can to facilitate a healthy working environment. But where it makes sense, department leadership will be looking to encourage some Action Team Members to work from home. Considerations regarding technology and ability to be productive from home and other relevant factors will be taken, but we do want to implement these options where we can.
For all of you: if you are sick, please contact HR and stay home. This is the purpose of sick days and it is important to use them. Note that if you become infected or quarantined or if you have a dependent that is sick or quarantined that you must care for, then you can apply for Disability Benefits from the State of California. HR can help you with those details if that arises.
Please reference the attached recommendations for Action team members regarding the coronavirus. We want you to be healthy! We will continue to monitor information and guidelines from the CDC and other agencies and actively do what is best for our team. We will live our values, working together, caring about each other, providing excellent service and getting creative to find solutions.
I’m thankful for all of you.
Matthew
Recommendations to Action Employees Regarding the Coronavirus
As many of you are concerned about the spread of the coronavirus and what can be done to prevent illness, we wanted to share our plan to avoid the spread of coronavirus within our company.
The most effective way to stay healthy and minimize the spread of infectious disease is to follow basic healthy best practices, including:
- Employees who are feeling ill should stay home until they recover (employees appearing ill at work will be sent home).
- Wash your hands with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds and use hand sanitizer when it is not possible to wash.
- Cover your mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing, use a tissue and dispose of it promptly.
- Do not share drinking cups or utensils.
- Do not touch your face, eyes or mouth with unwashed hands.
- Get plenty of sleep, eat a balanced diet and stay well-hydrated to maintain a strong immune system.
Please continue to monitor for yourself the recommendation from the CDC. Refer to the material distributed by Paul Firth earlier this week. We want you all stay healthy and well!
- CDC Flyers & Posters (English & Spanish) – https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/communication/factsheets.html
- Stop the spread of germs
- Symptoms of coronavirus
- What to do if you are sick
- What you need to know
- Links to CDC Videos – https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/communication/videos.html
- What is Coronavirus Disease 2019?
- What’s my risk?
- How to protect myself?
- COVID-19 Stop the Spread of Germs
- Link to CDC’s YouTube Channel with 16 videos – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvrp9iOILTQaJa78zFQ0QgvShQ2HEwHxP
- CDC General Information – https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html