© 2019 Forward Careers, Inc.

Forward Careers, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer and Service Provider. If you have a disability and need information in an alternative format, including language assistance or translation, and/or need assistance with this information, please contact us at (262) 695-7800 or call through Wisconsin Relay Service 711.

COVID-19 FCI Updates & Resources

IMPORTANT UPDATES: In response to the rapidly evolving coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Forward Careers' organizational updates will be posted here. 

​

Updates: 3.19.2020, 3.18.2020, 3.17.2020, 3.16.2020

​

Table of Contents

​

Employees/Offices

March 26, 2020

​

Employees should continue their amended work schedules unless advised otherwise by Human Resources. Forward Careers will continue daily operations, with some exceptions around travel and events, noted below.

​

  • Pewaukee FCI location: WCTC is tentatively planning to reopen on June 1, 2020. The date is subject to change as the situation remains fluid.

  • Mequon FCI location: All MATC campuses will remain closed until further notice. 

  • West Bend FCI Location: MPTC will remain closed through at least April 24, 2020. The date is subject to change as the situation remains fluid.

 

As a partner within the American Job Center or WFDC, the Pewaukee and Mequon centers are closed and West Bend remains open with limited access to the public.

 

If you feel sick

If you develop COVID-19 symptoms, stay at home. If symptoms like fever, cough, or difficulty breathing are present, you are advised to contact your health care provider for advice.

 

Employees and/or household members that have been exposed to COVID-19 are to notify Human Resources and President immediately and will not report to work for 14 days of notice.

 

Employees that are ill, choose to self-isolate or self-quarantine should use PTO.

 

​​

Electronic Forms & Digital Signatures 

March 17, 2020

​

All documents have been updated and those with signatures requests now include digital signatures. All employees completing these forms are required to:

​

  1. complete electronically;

  2. save with all completed fields;

  3. submit via email when all proper signatures per regular process.

 

Due to 100% of organization telecommuting, hand-completed documents will not be accepted.

​

​

Events

March 16, 2020

​

All events hosted by Forward Careers are canceled beginning Monday 16, through at least Friday, May 31, with limited exceptions by the President.

​

Hours of Operation

March 16, 2020

​

Effective March 16, 2020, all employees will receive a reduction in their hours from 40 to 32.5 hours per week, for the warranted duration of the COVID-19 outbreak.

 

New hours of operation are Monday – Friday, 9:00 am – 3:30 pm with a 30 minute paid lunch break.

​

Lunch

March 16, 2020

​

Employee lunch breaks are important to Forward Careers' productivity and employee health. Under the new hours of operation, employees who work more than 6 consecutive hours are required to take a paid meal break of 30 minutes.

 

To accommodate customer needs, employees may take their 30 min paid lunch between 12:00 P.M. and 1:00 P.M.

​

Meetings, Trainings, & Workshops

March 16, 2020

​

Group meetings, trainings, outreach activities, and workshops must be conducted using teleconferencing technology, webinars, or postponed through at least Friday, May 31, 2020. Supervisors will arrange department meetings accordingly.

 

Examples include WIOA orientations, employment prep workshops, and unconscious bias training. A decision on when and whether in-person workshops will resume will be shared in May.

 

Notice for the public will be placed on our website and the AJC Operations Manager for front-end knowledge.

 

Exceptions as of this update:

  • Rapid Response Sessions: WebEx, ZOOM alternate service delivery methods are being reviewed. Details are forthcoming.

  • W2W*: As of Tuesday, March 17, 2020, all non-essential activities/interventions provided by external partners are being temporarily suspended at all Department of Corrections (DOC) institutions. This suspension applies to all contracted programming, including Windows to Work and the operation of the Institution-Based Job Centers. DOC understands that this will impact individuals under our care, however this action is being taken out of an abundance of caution in order to minimize the risks associated with COVID-19 (Coronavirus). Please visit the DOC website for updates and additional information.

​

*This does not apply to county jails. For Forward Careers' W2W program, alternate methods should be explored first before group presentations/outreach efforts are scheduled. Check-in with supervisor for guidance. 

​

Offsite Access to Files

March 17, 2020

​​

  • Pewaukee Location

    • File Path to follow: 

      1. www.wctc.edu​ > click on MyWCTC (upper right corner) > enter your username and password

      2. You are now on WCTC's portal site.

      3. On the right side, under My Applications, you will have access to Archive Manager and FileWay. 

      4. Archive Manager allows you to look through old emails.

      5. FileWay allows you to access your documents on the G-drive. If you have documents on your desktop, you will not be able to access them.

      6. Both will prompt you to re-enter you username and password. ​

​​

  • Mequon Location​

    • n/a due to staff having wctc or mptc accounts​

​​

  • West Bend Location​

    • Staff located on the MPTC campus will not have access to files located in their home directories (H: drive).  MPTC management does not allow remote access to any network resources to prevent malware, viruses, etc. from infiltrating their network. Forward Careers IT Manager notified staff on Monday, March 16 to plan accordingly.  

​​

Phone & Teleconferencing Options

March 18, 2020

​

While telecommuting, employees are not to use personal landlines or mobile phones for any customer/client calls. Employees may call one another or management but not customers/clients using personal phones.

 

The following are alternate options for Forward Careers:

 

  • Google Voice: Once a google account has been created, allows for the selection of a new local phone number that is synced to employee's mobile phone. Once synced, employees can receive external client phone calls and text messages, under this new phone number, from their mobile phone using the Google Voice App or Desktop Version. Call recipients see the Google Number and not an employee's personal phone number. For Set-Up Instructions, click here.​

​

  • ZOOM: Allows for group teleconferencing or webcam calls to review clients items for verification. Set-up details are forthcoming.

​

*Employees who have Skype on their personal desktop/laptops may use it as it functions similar to Google Voice. 

​

Summer Hours

March 26, 2020

​​

​Forward Careers summer hours schedule remains with a start date of May 1 through September 30, 2020. Employees participating in summer hours are to adjustment to their work hours, adding 3 hours of work to allow for taking Friday afternoons off every other week. The adjustment should reflect an addition of one hour per work day during the week the half day is required. Normal business hours will be followed during the week where half days are not requested. Work weeks are not to exceed 32.5 hours worked without prior approval from your immediate supervisor and the President. 

​

Example Pay Period Schedule

​

Week 1

  • Mon, 9:00 am - 3:30 pm (6.5 hours worked)

  • Tue, 9:00 am - 3:30 pm (6.5 hours worked)

  • Wed, 9:00 am - 3:30 pm (6.5 hours worked)

  • Thu, 9:00 am - 3:30 pm (6.5 hours worked)

  • Fri, 9:00 am - 3:30 pm (6.5 hours worked)

  • Total Hours Worked = 32.5

​​

Week 2 (1/2 Day Friday)

  • Mon, 9:00 am - 3:30 pm (6.5 hours worked)

  • Tue, 8:00 am - 3:30 pm (7.5 hours worked)

  • Wed, 8:00 am - 3:30 pm (7.5 hours worked)

  • Thu, 8:00 am - 3:30 pm (7.5 hours worked)

  • Fri, 9:00 am - 12:30 pm (3.5 hours worked)

  • Total Hours Worked = 32.5

​​

Telecommuting

March 19, 2020

​

Effective March 19, 2020, all Forward Careers employees are telecommuting. 

​

  • To access Telecommuting Policy and Agreement, click here.

  • If you are using Microsoft Edge, to learn how to unable default PDF reader click here. 

​

For remote access to your standard voicemail:

​

​

​Once employee's have established their Google Voice and selected new phone number, update your standard voicemail for callers.

​​

  • Phone OOO: Hi, you have reach _________________ with Forward Careers.  To support social distancing, I am telecommuting and available at __________________ or via email at _________________. For details about our hours of operation, please visit www dot forwardcareers dot org​

​

  • Email Signature OOO:

  1. Update your email signature with your new phone number.

  2. Under your email signature place the following:​

NOTE: In response to the rapidly evolving COVID-19 pandemic, Forward Careers hours of operation are Monday - Friday, 9:00 am to 3:30 pm. Workshops, events, and face-to-face appointments are postponed. To support social distancing, I am available virtually and email remains the best method to reach me during this time.

​

TraxPayroll & Time Allocations

March 20, 2020

​

Employees' are to remain within a 32.5 hour work week. Since employees now have a paid lunch, hours in TraxPayroll reflect hours between 9:00 am - 3:30 pm. Time-sheets may look like as follows without clocking-out for lunch but time must be noted:

​

  • 3/16/2020   Mon   Morning Shift           8:00 am     to    12:00 pm

  • 3/16/2020   Mon   Afternoon Shift      12:30 pm     to      1:00 pm

​

  • 3/17/2020   Tue     Morning Shift           9:00 am     to    12:00 pm

  • 3/17/2020   Tue     Afternoon Shift      12:00 pm     to      3:30 pm      (lunch between 12:00 - 12:30 pm)

​

  • 3/18/2020   Wed   Morning Shift           9:00 am     to    12:00 pm

  • 3/18/2020   Wed   Afternoon Shift      12:00 pm     to      3:30 pm      (lunch between 12:00 - 12:30 pm)

​

  • 3/17/2020   Thu    Morning Shift           9:00 am     to    12:00 pm

  • 3/17/2020   Thu    Afternoon Shift      12:00 pm     to      3:30 pm      (lunch between 12:00 - 12:30 pm)

​

  • 3/17/2020   Fri     Morning Shift           9:00 am     to    12:00 pm

  • 3/17/2020   Fri     Afternoon Shift      12:00 pm     to      3:30 pm      (lunch between 12:00 - 12:30 pm)

​

BambooHR Link: https://forwardcareers.bamboohr.com/login.php

​

Time Allocations adjustments will be forthcoming. Hang tight.

​

Travel

March 16, 2020

​

All Forward Careers supported travel is cancelled through Friday, May 31, with limited exceptions from the President. 

 

We strongly advise you to reconsider non-essential personal travel, including travel over Spring Break or upcoming extended PTO.

 

Documented cases are growing rapidly both domestically and internationally. You may face a higher risk of infection, significant delays returning, and/or the requirement to self-isolate or self-quarantine upon your return, all of which could significantly impact your professional and personal obligations at great individual expense.

 

All employees should be aware that if you travel, you may be required to self-quarantine for 14 days depending on where you’re traveling to and from, even if you do not exhibit symptoms. Forward Careers’ Human Resources will review each employee’s upcoming time off to inquire about travel plans. Please wait to respond until you receive information from Human Resources.

 

​​

Troubleshooting Documents

March 20, 2020

​​

Our Responsibility & Community Resources

March 16, 2020

​​

While employees may not feel like COVID-19 will affect them if they are young or healthy, please remember that you are members of a larger community and could carry it to those with compromised immune systems or to older or higher-risk people. A new CDC analysis of more than 2,400 cases of COVID-19 that have occurred in the United States in the last month shows that at least 1 in 7 and perhaps as many as 1 in 5 people between the ages of 20 and 44 who contract the virus require hospitalization, a level exponentially higher than the hospitalization rates for influenza. 

​

There is no vaccine or protection at this time. We ask everyone to consider the safety and health of our entire community.

 

The best steps you can take to keep yourself and others healthy include:

  • Regularly wash your hands with soap and water for a minimum of 20 seconds.

  • If water isn’t available, then use hand sanitizer. Hand sanitizer needs to contain at least 60 percent alcohol to be effective.

  • Refrain from shaking hands.

  • If you cough or sneeze, do so into your elbow or a tissue.

  • Get plenty of sleep.

  • If you have a fever, please stay home.

  • Social distancing: By maintaining a distance of six feet from others when possible, people may limit the spread of the virus.

 

Please review the resources listed below for further guidance.

​

 

​

​

​

FCI Messages

​

​

Flatten the Curve

​​