Recently Asked Questions

I work at a public library that is gradually reopening to the public. We employ quite a few librarians who trend older and have underlying health conditions. Many of these staff have been working remotely for the past few months, but not necessarily on tasks essential to their positions. As we begin to recall employees to the physical worksite, some are requesting to continue working from home, and/or for indefinite relief from working directly with the public, because of their vulnerability to Covid-19 complications.

While we are working to accommodate our employees, we also realize that working directly with the public is an essential part of being a *public librarian*. So how can we effectively accommodate public librarians who are asking to *not* work with the public?

We have done this during our work-from-home phase, when our Library was required to remain closed. But I don't believe that we can sustain this over the longer term. At some point, we may have to hire people to fill the in-person needs of the Library, and won't have enough "at-home" work for existing staff to do.

Thank you for your guidance.

I was recently contacted by my employer stating that someone had applied for unemployment benefits using my Social Security number name and Job title. My employer notified me by email to be aware of this but stated that they conducted a security audit and found that there was no breach on their end and that the matter was currently being investigated by the department of labor and FBI. What responsibilities does an employer have to the employee when this happens? What should the employee do?

The library is using NYS Archives and Civil Service references to set personnel and payroll files records retention and disposition.

A question arose regarding employee rights to request removal of materials from personnel records.

The committee’s question was specifically about removal of a negative matter after the minimum required retention time had elapsed.

In this instance there was no question about the accuracy of the record nor was there litigation involved or anticipated.

Public and Association libraries have questions about making policies creating conditions that must be met for library staff to return to work. Can they set policies that exclude vulnerable employees from being able to return to work? Can they set policies requiring non-vulnerable employees to return to work?

When working from a remote location, and you do not have time or the technology to take work devices with you, can using your private devices (cell phones, personal laptops,etc.) open your devices up to discoverability for any legal actions by the district or organization you are working for? An example would be using your personal phone for Zoom (if your laptop does not have the capability) for a CSE meeting or other business that may or may not contain sensitive information.