A new season of on-site protocols, continued support

Your in-person experience at Stanford may start to feel different as public health guidance changes but you will continue to have university support for navigating this time.

The winter COVID-19 surge is receding in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties, in California, and across the country. While this is welcome news, COVID continues to have an impact on daily life for Stanford employees and their families.

In light of our current situation, the university has updated its health guidance for those working on-site at Stanford as well as for those who may need time away for COVID-related purposes. Below is a chart summarizing the latest policies and protocols:

Policy/Protocol	Updated guidance	Learn more
Face coverings Date effective: March 2, 2022	Aligning with county and state guidance, with certain exceptions, face coverings are no longer required but will continue to be strongly recommended on-site regardless of vaccination status. Cal-OSHA’s requirement for unvaccinated individuals to mask indoors was lifted.	Please visit Health Alerts to review further details.
COVID surveillance testing Date effective: March 1, 2022	Fully vaccinated faculty, staff and postdocs are no longer required to test regularly when working on-site. However, testing is recommended when experiencing symptoms, after travel or after exposure to COVID-19. Unvaccinated faculty, staff, and postdocs, including those who have received a medical or religious accommodation, are still required to test twice weekly if on-site 4 or more days per week, or once per week if on-site 3 days or fewer per week.	Color testing is still available to anyone who wants to continue regular asymptomatic testing. For more information, visit the COVID-19 surveillance testing page on Health Alerts
Rapid antigen tests	Individuals who have tested positive for COVID may use rapid antigen tests to end their isolation period and speed up their return to on-site activities. If you are symptomatic, concerned about exposure, or returning from travel, you may also take a rapid antigen test. When using a rapid antigen test, you must manually report your result in Health Check.	A limited number of rapid antigen tests will be made available to faculty, staff, and postdocs through their business units and schools. For further guidance on when rapid antigen tests can be used, please visit the Rapid Antigen Tests page on Health Alerts.
COVID Flex Hours policy Date effective: Feb. 19, 2022, (retroactive to Jan. 1, 2022) through Sept. 30, 2022	The COVID Flex Hours policy provides eligible employees with up to 80 hours of COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave for a variety of COVID-19 related purposes, including family care.	Please visit the policy page on Cardinal at Work to review how the hours are allocated, qualifying uses, other important details and the timekeeping process.
Quarantine Pay Revised as of March 4, 2022	The university revised the Quarantine Pay policy, which covers employees who are required to isolate or quarantine due to workplace exposure to COVID-19 and complements the COVID Flex Hours policy.	Please visit the policy page on Cardinal at Work for details.

Remember: All Stanford faculty, staff and postdoctoral scholars are still required to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 unless a medical or religious accommodation has been granted.