An update on the voluntary return to UC Berkeley’s campus

Vice Provost for the Faculty Benjamin E. Hermalin and Eugene Whitlock, chief people & culture officer, sent the following message to staff and faculty on Friday:

This coming Wednesday, June 16, we currently plan to allow employees who previously were working remotely to return to on-site work on a voluntary basis, subject to their supervisor and business unit’s approval. If you’re planning to take advantage of this option, please review the return to campus checklist for the important steps you need to take before and after your return.

It’s important to note that, while the state plans to lift most pandemic restrictions effective June 15 (and the city of Berkeley and Alameda County plan to follow suit), Cal/OSHA guidelines or some regulation that supersedes them may remain in effect beyond June 15. This means that there could be different rules that apply in the workplace than those that apply in your personal life, as has been the case throughout the pandemic.

Cal/OSHA is working to revise its regulations, but, for now, face coverings will still be required at all times while working indoors unless you are alone in an enclosed office or room.

We also want to call your attention to the testing requirements for being on campus. Regardless of vaccination status, everyone needs to have been tested on campus at least once in order to be registered as compliant in the campus system we use to document whether people have a health clearance to work on the campus. This is a technical limitation of the software. If you have never been tested for COVID-19 on campus, and you plan to be on campus before July 12, you should schedule an appointment to get tested. If you were vaccinated through UHS, your information has already been saved.

If you are fully vaccinated and your information has been uploaded into eTang, you only need to test one time to be registered as compliant in the system. If you have already been tested at least one time on campus, regardless of when you were tested, you do not need to be tested again if you are fully vaccinated and have uploaded your vaccine information into eTang. If you are not vaccinated, or do not upload your vaccination information, you will need to get tested weekly per Cal/OSHA regulations. If you did not receive your vaccination through UHS, you will need to upload your vaccination information via the secure eTang portal.

Please visit the return to campus page for more information, including information about access to buildings on campus, and look for additional updates in the Response and Recovery newsletter and future campus messages.