An Important Message for the University of Maine System Community
November 16, 2021
Dear Colleagues,
In his October 28 message, Chancellor Malloy shared information announcing the requirement of all UMS employees to comply with Executive Order 14042: Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors. Federal civil authorities have since updated and clarified those requirements, including a revised deadline for compliance. This means that all regular, part-time, temporary, and student employees must have either: 1) received both doses of an approved two-dose vaccine (Pfizer or Moderna), or the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine; or 2) confirmed a medical or religious exemption through the UMS online COVID-19 vaccination portal (UMS COVID-19 Portal) by the January 4, 2022 deadline. The University of Maine System has updated its own employee vaccination requirements to reflect these changes.
If you have not already done so, please take immediate action to ensure compliance with the requirement by January 4, 2022. You may follow this link for vaccination locations in Maine at https://www.maine.gov/covid19/vaccines/vaccination-sites or in Maine and beyond atwww.vaccines.gov. Also, watch for your campus specific news regarding on-campus or local vaccination opportunities.
I want to share the following key details with you:
Employees who previously submitted an exemption on the basis of working fully online/remote or working fully outside or isolated will need to upload a vaccination record or submit proof of a religious or medical exemption no later than January 4, 2022. Remote and outside work are not valid exemptions under the Executive Order. (They may no longer be requested and those previously granted will no longer be valid as of January 4.)
Regular weekly testing will continue to be a requirement for unvaccinated employees working under a religious or medical exemption. Testing appointments can be scheduled within the UMS COVID-19 Portal system.
Part-time faculty and other seasonal employees who are not actively working will need to be in compliance with these requirements prior to their return to work.
All newly hired employees must be in compliance with these requirements upon their start date. Human Resources is working to implement the necessary protocols for new hires.
As we must comply with the Executive Order, we will follow federal guidelines by continuing to keep employees informed regarding the vaccines available to them and supporting them in their efforts to comply with the requirements. We are continuing conversations with our labor union partners regarding the implementation of this Executive Order and the implications of individuals failing to comply. As the Chancellor noted in his message, approximately 90% of employees have already achieved compliance with the January 4th requirement. Should the Executive Order face legal challenges that affect its implementation, UMS will continue to follow our current protocols.
Thank you to all for your efforts to ensure that our campus communities may be as safe as possible.
If you have questions or concerns regarding the UMS vaccine protocols, please visit the Together for Maine website (https://www.maine.edu/together/) or contact your campus Human Resources department.
