Caldwell County approves paid leave for its employees

Caldwell County Commissioners on Tuesday approved a measure that will allow the county to continue paying its employees if they are forced to miss work due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
According to County Judge Hoppy Haden, exempt and nonexempt employees will be placed on paid administrative leave under the following conditions:
The employee has been exposed to or diagnosed with COVID-19 or is displaying any of the symptoms associated with the virus;
The employee has as a chronic health disease, such as diabetes, heart disease, pulmonary disease, has a compromised immune system, is pregnant, or has received direction from a health care provider to make alternative arrangements from their current work situation. This measure is not mandatory, but a voluntary decision based on the employee’s needs;
The employee has to care for young children as a result of school or day care closures. Decisions to grant paid leave regarding this particular item will be made by department heads on a case-by-case basis.
Haden noted employees who don’t otherwise qualify can still request paid leave, noting department heads would have the authority in granting any requests.
The measure originally included language would have compensated essential personnel in the case that they had to continue working while the rest of the county was on administrative leave, though Haden and other commissioners opposed the measure due to financial constraints.

To view the rest of this story, see this week’s edition of the Post-Register