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Oct. 18, 2022

• COVID-19 exposure notifications, enhanced cleaning no longer required
• Payroll and Time Tracking project update
• ASL proficiency testing helps confirm pay differential
• Bookmark these resources
• Was this message helpful?

COVID-19 exposure notifications, enhanced cleaning no longer required

Last week, the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) was notified that Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division (Oregon OSHA) recently updated its rules regarding COVID-19 exposure notifications in the workplace. Effective immediately, most employers in Oregon are no longer required to issue COVID-19 exposure notifications to employees or perform enhanced cleaning following an exposure as part of the updated public health guidance. 

For ODHS this means:

• Human Resources (HR) will continue to notify Stabilization and Crisis Unit (SACU) employees of COVID-19 exposures due to their work environment. 
• HR will stop sending all other notifications but will continue to post SACU notifications to the OWL page.
• Facilities will not provide enhanced cleaning following an exposure.

Oregon OSHA has technical specialists to help employers understand their rules and consultants to help employers improve their workplace health and safety programs.

While the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic may be over, ODHS generally supports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines on how to protect yourself and others from getting COVID-19.

• Stay up to date on your COVID-19 vaccinations
• Wear a mask if you choose
• Maintain 6 feet of physical distance from people you don’t live with –we don’t know people’s vaccine status or health situation – and we want everyone to be safe who comes into our offices
• Wash your hands often
• Stay home if you’re sick

Payroll and Time Tracking project update

As the state gets ready to begin using Workday for payroll and time tracking Dec. 1, 2022, now is the time to make sure you know what to expect. 

The Payroll and Time Tracking (PTT) project team assembled Payroll Project Champions (PPC) to help everyone prepare and to give you a contact for questions. As the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) and Oregon Health Authority (OHA) PPC, please reach out to me with any questions you have about Workday payroll. Training on the new system is scheduled for November. Watch for updates in the ODHS Discover newsletters and OHA Staff news. 

In August, we shared a presentation about the transition that is tailored for our employees. It takes less than 20 minutes. 

Be sure to share this update with your employees and bookmark the PTT webpage to get the latest news.

ASL proficiency testing helps confirm pay differential

On Sept. 1, 2022, Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) Human Resources (HR) finalized a contract with non-profit Bridges Oregon to administers testing to determine an employee's American Sign Language (ASL) proficiency and confirm pay differential. Providing ASL interpretation helps our agency meet one of our core values, service equity. 

Program test coordinators will contact current employees receiving an ASL differential to schedule a proficiency test complete with feedback. The goal is to complete employee testing in six months.

Proficiency testing resources are available to ODHS employees. Bookmark the new HR OWL page dedicated to ASL proficiency testing and be sure to visit the Bridges Oregon website for more resources for test takers.

If you have questions about ASL proficiency testing, please email Angela Jimeson, who is happy to assist.

Bookmark these resources

Stay up to date with the latest ODHS news by visiting these OWL pages.

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