The company’s updated and extended Liberal Leave policy goes into effect on Monday, April 6th. It gives more breathing room to HII employees to handle family situations related to the coronavirus or the COVID-19 disease.
Many union members had become frustrated and fearful of working in the yard without proper social distancing, as Governor Northam was ordering people to stay at home to prevent the virus from spreading. Calls for hazardous pay have been growing, putting pressure on the company to explore more options with our congressional allies, led by Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner and Rep. Bobby Scott.
The outcome led to the company’s announcement of a liberal leave policy in alignment with the CARES Act. That policy now defines five (5) situations as eligible for liberal leave:
- Employees diagnosed, quarantined, recommended for quarantine or experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and are seeking a diagnosis
- Employees who are caring for a household member or family member diagnosed with COVID-19
- Employees who serve as the primary caregiver for a child or member of their household who is unable to attend school due to COVID-19
- Employees who were scheduled to begin work but their offer was withdrawn, or they were unable to reach the job due to COVID-19
- Employees who are the breadwinner or major support for their household because their head of household died from COVID-19
- Employees who do not fall into one of the categories above but want to take liberal leave will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
A full statement of the updated and expanded liberal leave policy is available at: http://www.hii-homeport.com/docs/2020/ermatinger_cares_act02apr20.pdf.
