OUTAGAMIE COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Getting your COVID-19 shot could now mean extra time off of work in Outagamie County. The County Board approved a policy that would give vaccinated county employees additional paid time off, should they contract the virus.
Outagamie County chooses to reward employees who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 with additional paid time off. (WLUK video)
Several board members voted against the measure.
In a 20-11 vote, the Outagamie County Board passed the new Paid Administrative Leave for COVID-19 Exposure Policy Tuesday. Unlike the Temporary Outagamie County COVID-19 Emergency Compensation Plan Policy before, this policy now only gives fully vaccinated county employees an additional two weeks of paid time off.
“What we have been pushing and encouraging is for folks, especially employees, to get vaccinated,” Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson said. “That set of time off is still gonna be available, but it’s only going to be available for those who are vaccinated.”
What this means is that if one employee is vaccinated and another isn’t, but they both contract COVID, the unvaccinated employee will have to use their own PTO hours. But for the vaccinated worker, they’ll be able to pull the hours from the extra two weeks allotted.
FOX 11 asked Nelson what he has to say to those who might call this move unfair or a way of, essentially, forcing them to get vaccinated.
“Well look, I mean, these are not popular decisions. You don’t wanna be in the spot, of course, to make tough decisions, but this is what people elect you to do, and we’re just doing this, because we want to do everything we can to keep our employees safe, as well as the public.”
Not everyone agrees, though.
County Board supervisor Jason Wegand, who is fully vaccinated, was one of the 11 to vote against the change.
“Being vaccinated, you’re gonna get the county’s taxpayer money that’s gonna pay toward you to be off, because you’re vaccinated. The non-vaccinated, because of their own personal reasons, are not gonna get the same benefit. I don’t believe that is right.”
Nelson says, the additional time will cost the county 80 hours of pay, per eligible employee. The county will pay for the extra sick time through federal CARES Act funding.
The Outagamie County COVID-19 Vaccination Data shows about 53% of eligible residents have been fully vaccinated – almost the exact same percentage, when it comes to fully vaccinated Outagamie County employees.
As it stands right now, out of the 1,236 county employees, roughly 656 are vaccinated. However, the county says the number of those vaccinated is just an estimate, based on voluntary disclosures by employees. It says it is very likely that they have more employees vaccinated than what is represented in the count provided, but some may have not yet self-reported their status, since the revised policy just went into effect this week. The county also says, it expects this number to grow in the coming weeks, as more employees voluntarily provide proof of their vaccination status and as more employees choose to get vaccinated.
This new policy goes for all county employees. But those with a valid medical or religious exemption will still qualify for the extra time.
Nelson says this “incentive” will be offered as long as COVID is a public health emergency.
He says he’s hoping that this will encourage more employees to get vaccinated.
Staff will be required to show proof that they are fully vaccinated, or provide documentation of a valid medical or religious exemption, to get the additional two weeks.
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