Lafayette County Extends 10 COVID-19-Related Paid Days Off Policy

By Alyssa Schnugg

News editor

alyssa.schnugg@hottytoddy.com

The Lafayette County Board of Supervisors reapproved a policy granting county employees 10 additional paid sick days for COVID-19-related reasons during its regular meeting Monday.

The employee can use the 10 days if they get the virus or if they need to quarantine after exposure or if they need to stay home with a child who has it or has been sent home due to exposure. The 10 days do not affect the employee’s other sick days or vacation time.

Should an employee need more than 10 days for something COVID-19-related, they can use their regular sick days.

The policy was approved originally in January 2021. The Board voted 3 to 1 Monday to extend it.

Supervisor Chad McLarty was the dissenting vote.

Prior to the vote, McLarty said he felt that the county should only offer the extra 10 days of paid time off to employees who have been vaccinated, which drew criticism from some of the other supervisors.

“I don’t think we should penalize someone for their choice,” said Supervisor Larry Gillespie

McLarty said he was not looking to mandate the vaccination for employees but rather offer the 10 extra days as an incentive to getting vaccination since it is costing the county to cover those 10 days off.

His suggestion followed closely the city of Oxford’s policy for employees that was approved last year.

The city gives additional paid leave to those who are vaccinated and need time off for COVID-19-related reasons. Employees who choose not to get vaccinated must use their own sick days.

However, the other Board members felt it was too close to having a mandate and Supervisor David Rikard made the motion to approve the 10 COVID-19 sick day policy for employees regardless of whether they are vaccinated against the virus.

Supervisor Mike Roberts was not present at the meeting.