The state has identified 711,094 cases of COVID-19 as of today (increase of 32,116 since our last newsletter two weeks ago), with 683,858 of these patients no longer required to be isolated (increase of 27,709). 8,153 deaths have been reported (increase of 183). For more information on the current situation, visit the Minnesota Department of Health website.
At the bottom of this email, you will find Met Council workforce statistics related to COVID-19 leave that have been reported to the Employee Resource Center.
Do you have thoughts or concerns on the content or frequency of these COVID-19 update emails? We would love to hear your feedback through the online COVID-19 form, so we can make sure these emails are providing the most useful and timely information to staff.
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At a glance
What you need to know this week:
- Plans are now in place for onsite employees who need to be tested weekly for COVID-19. Employees who need to test each week must complete their test by 11:59 p.m. each Thursday.
- Contractors working on Met Council projects will be asked to adhere to our Vaccine and Testing Requirement Procedure beginning Nov. 1.
- The form for submitting proof of vaccination is available in Employee Self Service (ESS).
- In order to be exempt from weekly testing when it begins on Oct. 11, proof of vaccination must be submitted and verified by Oct. 4.
- Council members approved a vaccination incentive to provide a $150 lump sum, cash incentive to every employee who has been fully vaccinated and submits their proof of vaccination through ESS.
- Frequently asked questions on the vaccine and testing requirement are available on MetNet.
- Last week, the pandemic Incident Command team updated guidance regarding the return-to-office timeline. Teleworking staff should check the Telework Transition FAQ page on MetNet for information on technology, workspaces, planning, and more.
Read on for more about these updates.
Weekly testing methods and process
Plans are now in place for onsite employees who need to be tested weekly for COVID-19.
Remember that you will be considered unvaccinated if you decline to provide proof of vaccination, regardless of the reason for not getting vaccinated.
Completing the testing requirement
Employees who need to test each week must complete their test by 11:59 p.m. each Thursday. To prepare for the first week of the requirement, employees will need to test between Oct. 1 and 11:59 p.m. Oct. 7 for clearance to work the week of Oct. 11.
You will have the following Council-facilitated options for testing that will automatically update your employee record.
- Onsite and take-home saliva tests will be available at most work sites. Specific processes for accessing a test will be communicated through your division incident command.
- You may choose to schedule a test through HealthPartners and use the code 10397. Refer to this resource for full, step-by-step instructions (PDF).
- Some parts of the Met Council (including the Metro Transit Police Department) will also have access to onsite, rapid tests.
You may also choose to get your own test some other way. If you choose your own method, you will need to manually enter your test results in Employee Self Service. Instructions for manual reporting will be shared within the week.
Do not contact the Well@Work clinics - they will not be supporting weekly testing.
Results and status process
If you choose one of the Council-facilitated options above, your testing status of completed and your results will be automatically reported to the Employee Self Service system and to you.
If you test positive, you must still inform your supervisor, as we have throughout the pandemic period.
A list will be distributed to every manager by 8 a.m. each Friday letting them know if their employees are approved to go onsite – based on vaccination status or testing status. Your manager will communicate any status considerations following that communication.
For more information, refer to the Met Council’s vaccination and testing procedure. Contractors working on Met Council projects will also be asked to adhere to this policy beginning Nov. 1 (see story below).
Contractors asked to vaccinate or test employees for COVID-19
Effective Nov. 1, the Met Council is asking existing contractors to assure employees and subcontractors are vaccinated or tested weekly when interacting with Met Council employees and/or members of the public in indoor settings where they have regular, in-person contact, or outdoor settings where they are unable to socially distance.
The Met Council Procurement Department communicated this new expectation to all of our current contractors earlier this week. It is intended to align with the Met Council procedure requiring employees to either be vaccinated or tested weekly, to do our part to limit continued spread of the COVID-19 virus. We are also committed to making sure we do what we can to support and protect our employees who are working closely with contract employees.
There is also a federal mandate that employers with more than 100 employees vaccinate their employees or ensure they test negative regularly.
Project managers and Met Council authorized representatives will play an important role in communicating this expectation to our contract and vendor partners. We encourage those of you in that role to work with your manager and folks in Procurement to answer questions and trouble-shoot. Email Procurement@metc.state.mn.us with any questions you have, especially if you’re struggling to find a solution.
Procurement staff are fielding your questions and will be putting together an FAQ resource for project managers that we’ll update periodically. It will be linked on the COVID-19 FAQ page on MetNet.
Submit proof of vaccination now to avoid testing
Beginning Oct. 11, in order to report to work onsite, Met Council employees must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or get weekly COVID-19 tests and test negative.
For more information on the vaccine and testing requirement:
Submit your proof of vaccination now
Employees who are vaccinated must submit documentation to Human Resources to verify vaccination status. The form for submitting proof of vaccination is available in Employee Self Service (ESS).
In order to be exempt from weekly testing when it begins on Oct. 11, proof of vaccination must be submitted and verified by Oct. 4. After this deadline, you may submit proof of vaccination at any time, but you may still be subject to weekly testing until your vaccination status is reviewed and verified by Human Resources.
For assistance submitting your proof of vaccination:
If you do not remember your ESS password, the system will provide a temporary password. Click the “Forgot your password?” link above the "Sign In" button to reset your password. If you are unable to correctly answer your security questions for the reset, contact the Service Desk for a manual password reset. They will need to know your employee ID.
More information about ESS is available in the Quick Start Guide (PDF) and on the ESS login page under Helpful Links. For questions about ESS, email ESS.HRIS@metc.state.mn.us.
Provide proof of vaccination and get $150
Council members approved a vaccination incentive that will provide a $150 lump sum, cash incentive for every employee who has been fully vaccinated and submits their proof of vaccination through ESS. Proof of vaccination must be submitted and verified by Nov. 26, and the one-time, taxable payment will be included on the Dec. 10 paycheck.
 Proof of vaccination form in Employee Self Service.
Notes on the verification process:
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Do not fill out the form until after you have completed your vaccine series. Completion of the vaccine series means after the first dose for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and after the second dose for the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. Do not upload an image of your vaccine card after just your first dose of a two-dose series.
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Human Resources will review your submission. After you submit the form with the attached proof of vaccination, Human Resources will review the information. When HR has approved your submission, you'll receive a confirmation email from the system, and your status in ESS will change from Submitted to Approved.
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Attachments will not be stored permanently. Please note that the Met Council will delete any files you upload for this vaccination status form once this information is no longer needed as part of our pandemic response.
Tools to help you find vaccination opportunities
As of Tuesday (Sept. 28), 3,400,919 Minnesotans had received at least one vaccine dose and 3,229,812 people had completed the vaccine series. For up-to-date information on vaccine availability and distribution, visit the Minnesota Department of Health vaccine dashboard.
Our progress so far – and our path forward – relies on Minnesotans getting the vaccine. The vaccines are free, safe, and effective, and all Minnesotans age 12 and over can get one right now. Many sites are now offering walk-in appointments.
Check out these tools to find vaccine appointments:
Important reminders related to the vaccine:
- To be fully vaccinated with the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines, two shots are required. The waiting period between shots is 21 days for the Pfizer vaccine and 28 days for the Moderna vaccine. If you’ve missed your second dose for any reason, get it as soon as possible.
- You are considered fully vaccinated two weeks from the final vaccine dose.
- Even after you are fully vaccinated, you should continue to follow safety recommendations by public health officials and get tested if you are showing symptoms of COVID-19.
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Continue testing to stop the spread of COVID-19
Anyone who is experiencing COVID-19 symptoms should immediately contact their health care provider and seek testing, regardless of their vaccination status. How to get a COVID-19 test:
Announcements for teleworking employees
Telework Agreement Form available
The Telework Agreement Form was updated as the organization prepares for the new, long-term hybrid workplace with a mixture of onsite, hybrid, and remote workers. The form is required for all staff who are teleworking as part of the new schedules that are being finalized this fall. The form is now online and routed automatically through the approval process.
Telework transition timeline
As announced in The Wire last week, the pandemic Incident Command team updated guidance regarding the return-to-office timeline:
- Complete the Telework Agreement Form by mid-October and implement at the appropriate time.
- Continue teleworking, if you can, through at least Oct. 31.
- Work groups may bring teleworking employees back onsite now if necessary to address emerging business needs, especially for just a day or two.
- Staff do not need a telework agreement in place for temporary, short-term assignments onsite.
- Return to the office between Nov. 1 and Jan. 3 for critical business needs.
- Work groups may implement the timeline for returning to the office at any time in this window to respond to critical business needs. Exact time determined by work group or individually with manager.
- Departments must notify teleworking employees 30 days in advance of requiring them to return formally to onsite work. If those employees will be teleworking into the future, their telework agreements must be completed 30 days ahead of the required return to the office.
Making your plan
Follow this process to determine and formalize your telework transition plan:
- Department sets and communicates general direction to their staff for when employees should return.
- Teleworking employee determines with their manager their new schedule and effective date.
- Employee completes the online Telework Agreement Form and manager or supervisor approves by mid-October.
Telework Transition FAQs
Teleworkers can review the Telework Transition FAQ page on MetNet for details and tools to help in planning for and implementing their new schedules.
Check the MetNet pages, FAQs
For the most current information related to the COVID-19 pandemic, visit the MetNet page and be sure to review the FAQs for staff and managers. The telework transition FAQ page has details for teleworking staff. They are updated as we have new information to communicate.
For Metro Transit work instructions and daily updates on new COVID-19 cases reported at each worksite, visit the Metro Transit MetNet page. For job aids and facilities updates for Environmental Services related to COVID-19, visit the Environmental Services page.
If you have questions, talk to your manager or supervisor or submit a question or concern in the online COVID-19 form.
Check out the latest issues of our internal newsletters:
For those who cannot easily access MetNet and/or would like a printable PDF of the FAQs, here are the most recent versions of these pages:
Met Council workforce statistics
The following statistics related to COVID-19 have been reported to the Employee Resource Center. The "active positive COVID-19" number is the number of employees who currently have a positive COVID-19 diagnosis. The "cumulative" number marks the total number of employees who received a positive COVID-19 diagnosis since the pandemic began. The second table breaks down the positive cases by division for Community Development (CD), Environmental Services (ES), Metro Transit (MT), Metropolitan Transportation Services (MTS), and Regional Administration (RA).
Employees with positive COVID-19 diagnosis:
| |
Councilwide |
| Active positive COVID-19 |
22 |
| Cumulative COVID-19 since onset |
619 |
Employees with positive COVID-19 diagnosis by division:
These division numbers are reported by Human Resources weekly. This table reflects changes since the last update email (Sept. 16).
|
Division
|
New cases |
Total to date |
Returned to work |
Current active |
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CD
|
0 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
| ES |
1 |
92 |
84 |
8 |
| MT |
9 |
512 |
498 |
14 |
| MTS |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
| RA |
0 |
12 |
12 |
0
|
| Total |
10 |
619 |
597 |
22
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