COVID-19 Leave and Booster Leave Updates

Dear BCDSS Staff:

Yesterday DHS provided instructions regarding COVID-19 leave. The Office of Human Resources would like to follow up with agency specific guidance regarding COVID-19 Leave and Booster Leave. Please see below the following updates:

COVID-19 Leave Extended through Dec. 31, 2022

Leave for employees who test positive for COVID-19 has been extended through Dec. 31, 2022.  Beginning on November 3, 2021 (State Regular and temporary employees) and November 10, 2021 (contractual employees) through December 31, 2022, vaccinated employees or those with valid vaccine exemptions who test positive for COVID-19 using a PCR non-rapid test are eligible for up to 10 days (no more than 80 hours) of COVID-19 Leave to use in place of an employee’s own leave or leave without pay to recover from COVID-19.

The State will temporarily relax the PCR test requirement and accept the results of rapid tests for the purpose of verifying a COVID-19 infection. The temporary relaxation of the PCR test requirements will apply to leave requests between December 13, 2021, and March 1, 2022. 

To receive the leave, employees must:

• be fully vaccinated prior to usage of COVID-19 leave (i.e., received 2 doses of Pfizer/Moderna, or 1 dose of Johnson & Johnson;

• provide proof of vaccination or proof of vaccine exemption prior to usage of COVID-19 Leave;

• provide a positive PCR, rapid or home test result;

• submit all required documentation to the Office of Human Resources (HR) by the end of the pay period that follows the pay period the employee is requesting COVID-19 Leave;

• Receive an approval memorandum from HR. Timesheet instructions will be included in the memorandum.

To submit a leave request, please fill out the COVID-19 Leave Request Form. The form can be downloaded and filled out electronically. Once complete, please email the form and all required documentation to:

Marlo Coates, Benefits Specialist (marlo.coates@maryland.gov)

Robin McCauley, Benefits Specialist (robin.mccauley@maryland.gov)

Please use the subject "COVID-19 Leave Request" for your email.

Additionally:

• COVID-19 Leave must be taken consecutively and used in full-day blocks; however, an employee is not required to use all 10 days at once.

• COVID-19 Leave is only available to employees who have tested positive using a PCR, rapid or home test. Leave is not available to employees for the purposes of caring for a member of their household, or for childcare.

For more information, please see the attached FAQ document for COVID-19 Leave.

COVID-19 Booster Leave

Employees who are eligible to receive an initial COVID-19 vaccine booster will be eligible for two (2) hours of COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Leave to obtain an initial booster.

To receive COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Leave, employees must provide the BCDSS Office of Human Resources (HR) the following:

• proof of full vaccination (unless the employee has already received the COVID-19 Vaccine Incentive Payment);
• proof of receipt of an initial COVID-19 booster shot; and a written request form (provided below). 
• COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Leave Request Form (can be downloaded and completed electronically)

Employees who have already received a COVID-19 vaccine booster will be granted two hours of COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Leave upon receipt of the required documents.

COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Leave is available to SPMS regular, temporary and contractual employees.

COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Leave will not expire but is forfeited upon separation from State service. In order to receive COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Leave, an employee will need to receive an initial COVID-19 vaccine booster by December 31, 2022.

Employees who submit a COVID Booster Leave Form and have not completed the COVID-19 Vaccination Incentive Form will not get the $100 incentive automatically.

Agency Timekeeping staff will grant the 2 hours of leave as they do for other leave adjustments through the Leave Adjustment Process.

Employees who have declared an exception to the COVID vaccination/booster will not receive this admin leave/time off. 

The pay period that includes December 31, 2022 will be the deadline for submitting the COVID-19 Booster documentation for the 2 hours of Administrative Leave/Paid Time Off.  All requests received after this pay period will not be honored.

To request COVID-19 Booster Leave, please submit all required documents using the COVID-19 Booster Leave Submission Form.