137 infections in three weeks. How a COVID-19 wave has affected one California state agency
A wave of COVID-19 infections is shaking up return-to-office plans at the Franchise Tax Board, where 137 employees tested positive for the virus in the last three weeks, according to employee emails.
The surge at the agency comes as the omicron variant continues its sweep through California, pushing infection rates to levels that remain above pre-surge peaks.
Employees suspect the virus is circulating in the agency’s offices off of U.S. Highway 50 between Rosemont and Rancho Cordova, but the infection notifications don’t identify transmission sources.
Franchise Tax Board spokeswoman Victoria Ramirez said in an email that the agency has followed public health protocols and taken additional precautions that have made workplace exposure “extremely rare.”
The emails notifying employees of the 137 notices, ranging from four to 19 per day, were sent from Jan. 11 to Jan. 29. The notifications identify the building, the floor and the section where each employee works. The Franchise Tax Board is one of the state’s largest agencies, with more than 5,600 employees.
The agency’s four buildings include call centers where new employees have been required to come in for training, even though the training is conducted on computers and led by remote trainers, according to three employees who requested anonymity, fearing retaliation.
When employees do test positive, they face mandatory isolation periods under county and state protocols. Sacramento County mandates a minimum isolation period of five days for people who have tested positive, and up to 10 days without a repeat test or for those who still have a fever.
If Franchise Tax Board employees don’t have any accrued sick leave — which new employees usually don’t — they face mandatory unpaid time off.
“A week doesn’t sound like a lot to some people, but I count on that to pay my bills,” said a tax technician with children who recently tested positive. “Now I’m worried I’m not going to have enough to cover everything, and there’s nothing I can do.”
The employees said they want expanded leave time for COVID-related illnesses and more flexibility when it comes to telework.
Ramirez, the spokeswoman, said in an email that if employees don’t have any accrued leave, their options are unpaid leave, teleworking, or requesting a time donation through a catastrophic leave bank from other employees.
A state law that extended extra COVID-19 sick leave to employees expired last year. Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature have said they plan to provide another two weeks through September, which they have said would be available retroactively to Jan. 1.
New employees in offices
Two call center employees said all their work could be done from home, but they have been required to come into the office. One said she was well enough to work remotely during her isolation period, but wasn’t allowed to.
The two employees, plus another who has been able to work from home, said previous groups of new hires went straight to remote work, but the recent group of about four dozen new hires all must report to the office.
“It’s just us brand new grunts who are in the office, like the infantry,” said one of the call center employees. The employee said and her husband each face high risks of illness from the virus and that she had largely stayed in her house since the pandemic arrived.
On a given workday, about 1,400 of the agency’s employees are working in the office and 4,200 are working remotely, Ramirez said. She said employees may request accommodations for medical reasons through the agency’s Equal Employment Opportunity office to work from home.
She said the agency’s omicron response has included delaying its return-to-office plan and sending out reminders to supervisors and staff to wear masks, wash hands and stay home if sick.
The agency recently announced another 90-day delay to its return-to-office plan, which eventually will require everyone to spend at least half of their working time in the office.
State employees are required to be vaccinated or to get tested weekly. Ramirez said the agency has got its testing program up and running, adding that tests are available for vaccinated as well as unvaccinated employees. She declined to say what percentage of the agency’s employees are vaccinated.
This story was originally published February 2, 2022 at 5:00 AM with the headline "137 infections in three weeks. How a COVID-19 wave has affected one California state agency."