COVID-19 – Useful information: partial furlough scheme, Progressive Business Resumption Plan, Suspended activities, Teams application for all the staff, ...

• Adoption of the partial furlough scheme

Given the extraordinary circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the fact that some of the Institut Pasteur's units and departments have been forced to reduce their activity, the Institut Pasteur has decided - following consultation and favorable opinions issued by the CSE -  to make use of the French government's partial furlough scheme (known in French as "partial activity").

Why are we introducing this scheme at the Institut Pasteur?

- Despite the measures taken to promote continuity, several scientific departments and research support services have been forced to reduce their activities, whether because of the decision to refocus on essential priority activities associated with COVID-19 or because some or all of their teams' tasks were unable to be performed remotely, away from the facilities and equipment available on campus.

- The decision to adopt the partial furlough scheme, under which a compensation payment is received from the government for the hours employees are unable to work, is necessary to offset continued expenses and the significant risk of a loss of revenue.

How does it work and who does it apply to?

We have chosen to adopt a case-by-case approach: based on discussions with all managers and the members of their teams, the Department of Scientific Affairs and the Human Resources Department have evaluated the impact of the situation on each department since the beginning of the lockdown. This collaborative effort has led to the calculation of percentages of working time for each employee.

The scheme applies to the following people:

- staff who cannot perform their jobs remotely without access to campus;

- staff who have been forced to work less because of reduced activities and the decision to refocus on priority activities.

These employees may be on a fixed-term, permanent or dual-education contract and they may work on a full-time or part-time basis (or on a part-time basis on health grounds).

In practice:

- Placing an employee on partial furlough simply means suspending their employment contract for any days not worked. It does not signal a change in the employment contract, and there is no break in the employee's relationship with the Institut Pasteur.

If you are affected by the partial furlough scheme, rest assured that your full salary will be maintained, unchanged, and will be paid on the usual date; the compensation payment of 70% will be topped up by the Institut Pasteur to guarantee 100% of your net salary.

You will continue to accrue annual leave and additional leave (for those on the set-days (forfait-jours) system) as usual. You will also continue to enjoy the same healthcare/provident insurance coverage and there will be no impact on the calculation of pension entitlements.

In practice, for those concerned:

You will need to identify which non-working days correspond to "partial furlough" days.

- In line with your percentage of working time (you will be sent an individual email informing you of this figure), you will have to record your specific partial furlough days (by half day or full day) in your HR portal on a regular basis, and at the latest before the end of each month.

- During these non-working days, your contract will be suspended and you will not be required to fulfill your contractual duties.

Recording non-working days or half days:

- For the period from May 4 to the end of June, you should record these days directly in the HR portal yourself so that they can be approved by your manager.
- For the period from March 17 to April 30, it will not be necessary to record these days retroactively because we will base our calculations on the percentages of working time indicated by your line managers.

Implementation schedule:

- The partial furlough period will apply from March 17 until June 30, 2020, to take into account the very gradual resumption of activities that we are obliged to pursue.

- All staff concerned will shortly receive an individual email indicating their precise percentage of working time.

- Payslips (from June onwards) for those employees concerned will include additional lines indicating the number of hours not worked, the compensation payment and the hourly rate.

For further information, please consult the dedicated Webcampus page, which includes FAQs and explanations, or email your questions to: PCA-activitepartielle@pasteur.fr

Rest assured that we are well aware that our current drop in activity is the result of exceptional circumstances. We would like to thank you in advance for your understanding and your cooperation in the implementation of this scheme, which is vital for the Institut Pasteur.

 NB : The application for adoption of the partial furlough scheme (activité partielle) has been submitted to the French administrative bodies. Implementation of the scheme at the Institut Pasteur is therefore subject to prior agreement from the Direccte (Regional Office for Companies, Competition, Consumers, Labor and Employment).

 

 

• COVID-19: broad principles of the Progressive Business Resumption Plan (PBRP) on campus

Following the announcement of a gradual easing of lockdown measures in France from May 11 (although the details, including specific geographical measures, have not yet been finalized), the Institut Pasteur is implementing a Progressive Business Resumption Plan (PBRP) on campus. The plan is designed to allow for the gradual resumption of normal activity on campus in a way that protects the health and safety of all staff, while offering the flexibility to be adjusted at any time to reflect the development of the outbreak and new government guidelines.

The broad principles of the PBRP were presented on April 29 to the elected members of the Social and Economic Committee (CSE), which delivered a favorable opinion:

1.    Allowing each staff member to have a say in whether they wish to return to campus, in light of their personal and family situation (transport, reopening of schools, etc.);

2.    Keeping vulnerable individuals at home – those identified by the French High Council for Public Health (COVID-19 information sheet on Webcampus);

3.    Strictly enforcing social distancing and preventive hygiene measures to avoid putting oneself and others in danger, and applying isolation measures as soon as possible in the event of a suspected or confirmed case of infection;

4.    Making it compulsory to wear face masks in shared workspaces and when moving between buildings, given the density of the campus layout;

5.    Continuing and encouraging home working where at all possible, allowing those working from home to access campus on an occasional basis if necessary;

6.    Holding discussions within each team on the organization of work, evaluating the need for each team member to come onto campus and, if necessary, how often;

7.    Prioritizing laboratory activities and laboratory support roles in these discussions so as to keep the number of staff present on campus to a minimum;

8.    Reaching agreement with other supervisory partners for joint Inserm and CNRS units (the primary responsibility is with the host institution, i.e. the Institut Pasteur).

The progressive resumption of activities at the Institut Pasteur is coordinated by the Business Resumption Plan Committee (previously the Business Continuity Plan Committee). An operational unit will also be set up to manage organizational aspects and carry out preparatory work for decisions.

If you have any questions, we would ask you to address them to your managers, who can liaise with the PBRP operational unit.

We will keep you informed on a regular basis of any changes to the procedures for the resumption of activities on campus.

The Progressive Business Resumption Plan Committee

 

 

• Suspended activities on campus, business trips and internships

Many of you are impatient to find out about the practical arrangements that will be adopted to start the lockdown exit strategy after May 11 on campus. These arrangements will have to be fully in line with the measures adopted by the French government, and for that we will need to wait a few more days.

But we can announce that some of the directives outlined in memo 2 of March 13, 2020 have now been extended until August 31, 2020 at the earliest.

1/ Suspension of face-to-face activities on campus

Some activities will remain suspended until August 31, 2020 at the earliest:

- Face-to-face teaching;

- External and internal in-person seminars, department retreats;

- Lectures, conferences and other attended events on campus;

- Meetings: only remote meetings will be permitted; meetings on site may be organized as long as they are held with as few people in physical attendance as possible – other participants can join the meeting online – and under the strict condition that a physical distance of at least 1.5 meters between people can be maintained at all times;

- Museum tours;

- Sports and social activities.

2/ Access to campus for guest researchers and children

Badges for retired guest researchers will remain suspended until August 31, 2020 at the earliest. The presence of children under the age of 18 on campus remains prohibited until further notice.

3/ Internships
Maintaining links with trainees (first- and second-year Master's, Bachelor's and others)  is important. The specific conditions relating to scientific trainees were sent last week to each research entity. In addition, to date, the reception of new trainees has been suspended until August 31, 2020.

4/ Business trips

Any requests for business trips abroad will continue to be subject to the prior authorization of the Delegate for Safety and Security until further notice. In practice, the following rules will apply:

- Any business trips planned until August 31, 2020 must be canceled;
- Any new requests for trips beginning before September 1, 2020 will not be authorized, except for highly exceptional cases, that will be analyzed individually and authorized by the senior management team;

For business trips beginning after August 31, 2020, we would ask you not to submit any requests until the second half of June 2020, given the lack of visibility as to how the global situation will develop and the regulatory provisions adopted in different countries.

The Business Continuity Plan Committee, which is also responsible for preparing and coordinating the Business Resumption Plan, will get back to you shortly with more details about how activities will gradually and progressively resume on campus after May 11, taking into account the decisions adopted by the French government.

 

 

• Do you have any human resources-related questions about the current situation?

The Human Resources Department has compiled an HR FAQ, which is now available on a dedicated page. For any questions about leave sheet, thanks to consult the FAQ which will be regularly updated to take account of situations encountered by staff and questions raised.

 

 

• Microsoft Teams now available for all staff on campus

To facilitate remote working as much as possible during the COVID-19 crisis and the lockdown, the Institut Pasteur's Information Systems Department is pleased to announce that the Teams application is available for all Institut Pasteur staff from today.

Many of you have been requesting it, and several of you are already familiar with it. For others it will be a new experience. Teams is the Institut Pasteur's chosen collaborative solution. It combines video conferencing, document co-editing and chat features.

Teams will ultimately replace Skype for Business (which is currently still operational).
For now, take a few moments to familiarize yourselves with Teams and test it out for your upcoming projects.

How to install Teams?

To download the application for PC or Mac

• Download the mobile application on your smartphone or tablet via your store (iOS and Android) – search for Teams  

How to run Teams?   

► From your computer:
Open the "Start" menu, then search for "Microsoft Teams"

► From your smartphone
Search for the "Microsoft Teams" icon

► Logging into the application:
Your login is e.g. jsmith@pasteur.fr (the same as for Eduroam)
Your password is your usual Institut Pasteur password
 
Important: you will need a webcam and microphone on your computer to use the audio and video features. Using a headset with microphone can help reduce background noise or distractions.

Features    

►Instant messaging

Send and receive messages and documents in real time with your colleagues.

►Collaboration

► Set up working teams (conversation spaces), called "Teams", and work together in "project" mode
(for best practices feel free to contact the Information Systems Department).

► Set up subgroups for each project, known as "Channels".

► Members can share documents (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.) that can be consulted and edited in real time by other members.

Virtual meetings
 
► Organize audio and video conferences, known as "Team meetings" – online meetings that can be attended by up to 250 participants.

► Share your screen, windows or PowerPoint presentations with participants.

User support    
 
► Online help is provided directly in Teams, and there are several training tutorials and videos available.
 

► Teams is a tool that is developing very quickly; several features are set to be added in the near future (for example, it will soon be possible to display up to 9 people on the screen, raise your hand in online meetings, etc.).

Given our rapid rollout of the Teams application, we will do our best to respond to your questions as quickly as possible. You can call the help desk on +33 (0)1 40 61 36 00 or use the dedicated help channel "Teams Institut Pasteur" in Teams.

User guides will be sent out at a later stage.

Make sure you protect your data

Teams allows you to share files between groups of colleagues in several countries. It is important to take care not to share any documents containing sensitive information, especially regulated data.

To make sure you are working securely, you may like to consult the Practical guide for working from home.

Many thanks for your cooperation. We hope you enjoy working with Teams!

The Information Systems Department

To work securely, do not hesitate to consult the Practical Guide for remote work