Information for staff

This page covers the following topics:

Current COVID-19 health requirements
If you test positive for COVID-19
Employee work arrangements
Guidance for offices and workspaces
Returning from travel
COVID and paid leave options
Benefits and retirement
Medical treatment at UCLA
Well-being resources
COVID dashboards

COVID health checklist: What do I need to do?

For all current COVID-19–related heatlh requirements and recommendations — including information on vaccines and boosters, isolation and quarantine, and entry to campus events — please see:

COVID protocols at a glance

Not required: Daily symptom monitoring, indoor masking and weekly surveillance testing are no longer required, although masking indoors remains strongly recommended.

If you or an employee tests positive for COVID

If you test positive through UCLA campus testing, you’ll be contacted by campus health officials with instructions. Your close contacts — those who have been within 6 feet of you in an indoor setting for a total of 15 minutes over a 24-hour period — will be notified by contact tracers, who will instruct them on further steps.

If you test positive outside of UCLA or take an at-home test that comes back positive, you should upload the results of your test (whether PCR or rapid antigen) to the UCLA COVID-19 Action Center and contact the UCLA COVID Call Center below. Likewise, if you are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and have been in contact with an infected person, call the call center. (If notified by an employee, managers and supervisors should direct the employee to follow these instructions.)

For faculty and staff
UCLA COVID Call Center
310-825-6771
covidcallcenter@mednet.ucla.edu

The Call Center will will then advise you and any close contacts on how to proceed, per UCLA’s isolation and quarantine protocols or LACDPH’s isolation and quarantine instructions, and provide guidance on when it is safe to return to work. (Employees should notify their supervisor of their return-to-work date.)

If the COVID-19 incident was work-related and the individual was admitted to the hospital over night for in-patient treatment beyond observation, the employees’ manager or supervisor should contact the UCLA Environment, Health and Safety Serious Injury Hotline at 310-825-9797.

Employee work arrangements

While many employees, particularly those from campus units and departments involved directly in education delivery and support of the campus’s physical operations, are working full-time on campus, a large number are currently working hybrid schedules or are completely remote.

Decisions on which employees are required to come to campus — and when — will be made by each department, as each functional area has its unique needs. Department heads, managers and supervisors should consider allowing employees who can perform their duties effectively on a hybrid schedule to do so.

Our FlexWork Guide for Managers (PDF) is designed to assist managers and supervisors in implementing flexible, supportive working arrangements for employees, whether they are working on campus, remotely or in a hybrid fashion. Employees are encouraged to discuss these work options with their supervisors.

Guidance on working from home

The UCLA IT Support Center’s Collaboration Tools page has information on using Zoom, Slack, VPNs and other remote technologies. The campus also has a wide-ranging set of tips on how to work effectively from home, as well as ergonomic advice on setting up a home workstation. In addition, Human Resources has provided resources for employees, managers and supervisors on working remotely.

Campus IT Services has a list of IT support resources for each division, school, department and unit. Hardware, software and accessories are available through the UCLA Computer Store, which offers academic discounts and has an in-depth knowledge of UCLA departments’ technology requirements.

Parking arrangements

Many returning employees who formerly used public transportation or UCLA’s various transportation services may instead choose to drive to campus. To alleviate any potential pressure on parking capacity, UCLA will strategically stagger the days various employees working hybrid in-person/remote schedules come to campus.

Information on parking fees and permits can be found on UCLA Transportation’s faculty and staff parking page.

Guidance for offices and workspaces

Basic health and safety requirements

For a list of current COVID-19 protocols for campus and workspaces, please see the UCLA protocols at a glance chart.

Workplace cleanings

Regular cleanings: UCLA Facilities Management performs cleanings and disinfection of all high-use common areas, restrooms and public spaces throughout campus — including office common areas and restrooms. Details on these cleanings is available here (PDF). For the cleaning of individual offices, units and departments can purchase cleaning packages through Facilities Management by submitting a facilities service request (please include “COVID” in the FAU project description).

Workplace meetings and remote technology

Because a significant number of employees are likely to be on a hybrid work schedule or completely remote, some offices in which employees are working in person may want to update their conference room audio-visual systems to accommodate those who are off site. UCLA’s IT Services has put together a set of technology recommendations based on room types, sizes and purposes to ease the burden of research and product selection. For more information, please contact IT services at help@it.ucla.edu or 310-267-4357.

Dealing with violations of COVID protocols

UCLA is focused on developing of a collaborative community of compliance to help reduce the spread of COVID-19. Supervisors and department heads should remember to remind employees to complete the daily Symptom Monitoring Survey, to wear masks at all times in the office and to follow other campus protocols.

There may be times when employees, after being reminded, continue to ignore campus health and safety protocols. If employees demonstrate repeated noncompliance with protocols, a complaint can be made to an employee’s supervisor or unit head. In addition, reports of violations may be made anonymously through UCLA’s whistleblower hotline at 800-403-4744.

A determination will be made whether an employee’s violation was willful or not. Employees with willful violations, repeated violations or violations believed to have resulted in COVID-19 infections will face disciplinary measures up to and including exclusion from campus.

For full details of UCLA’s protocol on compliance and violations, see Compliance With Safety Measures (PDF).

Pivoting to hybrid or remote work

Significant changes in the public health landscape could require UCLA to make changes to work arrangements — including adjusting workplace density or shifting some offices to completely remote work. Our COVID-19 Pivot Plan (PDF) describes the criteria that will inform possible changes in our operations.

Returning from travel

UCLA is following the travel advisory issued by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, based on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on returning from domestic and international travel.

Major points of that guidance are listed below. For full details, please visit the CDC’s travel page.

Returning from travel within the U.S.

If your travel involved situations with a greater risk of exposure to COVID-19, such as being in crowded places while not wearing a well-fitting mask, it is recommended that you:

Take a COVID-19 test, either through a lab or at home, upon your return
Self-monitor for COVID-19 symptoms

If you test positive or develop symptoms, follow isolation and quarantine protocols.

For more information, see the CDC’s domestic travel page.

Returning from international travel

U.S. citizens are not required to show proof of vaccination or a negative test to reenter the United States from abroad; non–U.S. citizens, however, must show proof of having received a primary vaccination series, with limited exceptions.

It is recommended that all travelers, regardless of their vaccination status:

Take a COVID-19 test within three to five days after their return to the U.S.
Self-monitor for COVID-19 symptoms

If you test positive or develop symptoms, follow isolation and quarantine protocols.

For more information, see the CDC’s international travel page.

COVID, paid leave options and vacation days

Paid leave and COVID

In addition to making use of regular accrued leave and other paid leave, faculty now have the option of taking emergency paid sick leave.

University of California employees— including exclusively represented employees — who are unable to work as a result of COVID-19 can use emergency paid sick leave between Feb. 19, 2022, and Dec. 31, 2022. Full-time employees may take up to 80 hours of emergency leave, and part-time employees may take up to the two-week equivalent, while receiving their regular rate of pay. An employee may request EPSL by speaking to their supervisor or by submitting a completed emergency leave request form (PDF) to their supervisor.

If an employee took any leave between Jan. 1, 2022, and Feb. 18, 2022, for one or more of the emergency leave–qualifying reasons but was not paid as described above, the employee may submit a retroactive request to use emergency leave.

Employees are encouraged to contact their local human resources representative at UCLA for more information about paid leave related to COVID-19.

Accrued vacation days and COVID

Because of increased workloads and COVID-19–related restrictions, many policy-covered faculty members have been unable to take time off and have accrued the maximum allowable vacation leave.

UC approved a second extension of the temporary exception to PPSM-2.210 (Absence from Work), which allowed policy-covered staff employees additional time to take vacation leave in order to bring their vacation accrual balances below the maximum. The exception deadline was extended to June 30, 2022. During the exception period, employees whose balances exceeded the maximum continued to accrue vacation leave. Since July 1, 2022, employees who were over the maximum vacation leave accrual limit have stopped accruing additional hours.

For more on UC policies in response to COVID-19, visit UC’s coronavirus updates for employees page. You can also contact Campus Human Resources or your departmental HR representative for details.

UCLA Health and medical school

Faculty at UCLA Health and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA — working both on campus and remotely — should refer to the following resources for details on work, research, leave and other topics:

For questions related to work, benefits and other resources, UCLA Health employees should visit UCLA Health’s human resources page.

Benefits and retirement

The University of California provides updates for UC employees on how their health, welfare and retirement benefits plans may be affected by the pandemic. For more information, contact your UCLA human resources representative.

Medical treatment at UCLA Health facilities

In-person visits: UCLA hospitals in Westwood and Santa Monica and clinics throughout Southern California are open, including imaging and interventional centers. Precautions against COVID-19 are in place at all locations. Employees who are UCLA Health patients should contact their doctor directly or call 800-825-2631 to schedule an appointment.

Video visits: For ease and convenience, patients can schedule video visits with their doctor. For information on video visits, patients can call their doctor’s office or 800-825-2631. Click here to learn more about video visits.

Prescriptions and medication: All UCLA retail pharmacies are currently operating and can be reached at 310-206-3784.

For more information on appointments and other health-related topics, visit UCLA Health’s website.

UCLA Health visitor guidelines: Hospitals and clinics require that visitors wear a face mask at all times and strongly recommend that all visitors are vaccinated and have received a booster, if eligible. Visitors coming to hospitals or clinics for multiple consecutive days may be required to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test. Learn more here.

Well-being and counseling

Employees are encouraged to contact UCLA’s Staff and Faculty Counseling Center, which offers online advice and telehealth sessions for UCLA staff and their families and significant others. The center can be reached at 310-794-0245.

Further resources are available on this site’s Emotional, Social and Physical Well-Being page.

UCLA Health and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA have established a COVID-19 Wellness and Mental Health Workgroup to provide emotional support for UCLA Health staff and faculty working on the front lines of the pandemic.

COVID dashboards

Vaccination rates and confirmed COVID cases dashboard
UCLA provides regular updates on the number of students, faculty and staff — both on and off campus — who have been confirmed by medical professionals to have COVID-19. Consistent with the protocols for infectious disease response, anyone identified within our campus community as being at risk of COVID-19 as a result of exposure to an infected person will be notified if they need to quarantine and be tested.

COVID-19 case notification (PDF)
In accordance with California’s Assembly Bill 2693 (previously AB 685), UCLA’s case dashboard keeps those on campus informed when they have potentially been exposed to an individual believed to be infectious with COVID-19 in a UCLA building or workplace. For details, see UCLA’s Standard Operating Procedure for Responding to COVID-19 Cases.