Update on return to work place plans

06/22/21

Dear Colleagues,

As I walked through campus yesterday, I delighted in seeing the vibrancy of our PSOM community. While the majority of our community returned to labs and facilities for some time now, and as we inch ever-closer to pre-pandemic conditions, we recognize that our experience and resilience over the course of the pandemic has shown that in some cases, remote-work arrangements have promoted increased efficiency, productivity, and balance.

In this spirit, please find below information on expectations for return to work place plans, as supported and guided by the University:

July 6^th to September 6^th: during this time, we expect that individual programs and departments will make decisions for a return to on-campus work at the local level. For those continuing to work remotely at present, we ask that departments and programs prioritize the following groups among the first to return to the work place: faculty / PIs; medical students; graduate students and postdocs; lab staff; and administrative managers and supervisors.
September 7^th to December 31^st: we expect to accommodate – on a pilot basis – hybrid work arrangements for a portion of our staff, who may request some type of remote-work schedule. Examples include two or more days remote per week on average, and each request must be accompanied by a brief business rationale to be approved, at minimum, by departmental leadership, and, in most cases, by PSOM administration. More information on these guidelines will be shared directly with departmental administration, who will be responsible for collecting and submitting requests for consideration as part of the Staff Pilot Hybrid Program.

For more information on the University’s Return to Campus Guide, please visit here. Updates and current information on public health guidance on campus are posted here.

Lastly, evolving guidelines throughout the City and our campus are informed and driven by a decline in COVID-19 cases and an increased vaccinated population, and I’d like to remind you to update your vaccination status in Workday. All current faculty, staff, students, and post-doctoral trainees are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 no later than August 1, 2021, and reported as such in Workday. More information, including instructions, can be found here.

Thank you,

Jon

Jon Epstein, MD | EVD/CSO

https://www.med.upenn.edu/evdresearch/