COVID-19

Airport and overnight work travel for HODGE employees must be approved by the HODGE executive team.

HODGE employees should limit local travel for meetings whenever possible and utilize email communication, phone calls and video conferencing applications.

In an effort to keep everyone safe, we have limited the number of people that can be in one vehicle to two team members as long as both individuals wear masks for the entire trip. However, if solo-travel is possible, we’d prefer everyone travel alone in their own vehicle.

HODGE employees returning from air travel may report to work upon return as long as they are asymptomatic, have no reason to believe they were exposed, and follow the below guidelines for 14 days following their return.

• Pre-Screen: Employees should measure their temperature and assess symptoms prior to starting work.
• Regular Monitoring: Employees should self-monitor their symptoms and report any change in symptoms immediately.
• Wear a Mask: Employees should wear a face mask at all times while in the workplace for 14 days after air travel.
• Social Distance: Employees should keep 6 feet between them and others at all times and practice social distancing as work duties permit in the workplace.
• Disinfect and Clean work spaces: Clean and disinfect all areas such as offices, bathrooms, common areas, shared electronic equipment routinely.

State and local governments may have travel restrictions in place, including testing requirements, stay-at-home orders, and quarantine requirements upon arrival. For up-to-date information and travel guidance, check the state, territorial, tribal and local health department where you are, along your route, and where you are going.

• Video Conferencing: Video conferencing shall be used in lieu of non-business essential in person meetings, whether they are with people inside or outside the company.
• Internal group meetings: Large internal group meetings should be conducted virtually. Meetings may take place in person if social distancing guidelines are followed and no workers are inside of six feet of one another for the duration of the meeting.
• External Conferences and Meetings: Attendance of HODGE employees at large group external conferences and meetings is prohibited unless approved by an Executive Vice President, President or CEO.
• Warehouse Floor Start-Up Meetings: Start-up meetings will continue as planned on the warehouse floor only because of the constant air flow and open space, but we ask that you keep six (6) feet of distance between you and others.
• Communal Food: The provision and consumption of communal food is prohibited at all HODGE locations (communal food is food brought in by employees, Customers or visitors to the location for consumption by any employee, Customer or visitor at the location).
• Social Distancing: Do not congregate in break areas and maintain six (6) feet of spacing between you and others.
• Severe Weather: All severe weather policies are still in effect. If a location were to experience a severe weather event where we need to ask employees to take shelter, we will do so. The safety of our employees for severe weather takes precedence over social distancing. However, mask requirements will still be in effect.

HODGE provided hygiene products:

• To help minimize the spread of COVID-19, HODGE shall provide its facilities with hand soap in liquid antibacterial form for all wash areas; hand sanitizer in common areas which are readily accessible to employees, customers and visitors; and disinfectant wipes (such as Clorox, Lysol, or similar) to periodically clean items subject to frequent touches. It is recommended to leave internal doors open, where possible, to prevent the spread of all germs due to use of door handles or knobs.

General Cleaning and Disinfection Guidelines:

• Current evidence suggests that COVID-19 virus may remain active for hours to days on surfaces made from a variety of materials. Cleaning of visibly dirty surfaces followed by disinfection is a best practice measure for prevention of COVID-19 and other viral respiratory illnesses in workplace settings.

HODGE communal areas:

• All entrance ways, reception areas, and break areas should be wiped down at the beginning, middle, and closing of each shift. Responsibilities for these duties should be coordinated across operations by managers and coordinators and should be a joint effort by all team members.

HODGE Warehouse Operations and Material Handling: The following items and areas will be cleaned regularly under coordination of supervisors, safety coordinators and custodial staff:

• Material handling equipment (beginning of every shift, and after a change)
• Shared devices (beginning of every shift, and as needed)
• Entrance (beginning, middle, and end of each shift)
• Time clock machines (minimum of three times daily
• Break areas (once daily) including commonly touched surfaces and appliances

Office Staff and Supply Management: The following cleaning measures should be conducted in an office setting:

• Employees should disinfect their own desks and office equipment (including telephones).
• Doorknobs, water faucets, handrails, vending machines, and break areas will be cleaned daily under coordination of supervisors and custodial staff.

• HODGE employees will be allowed to stay home with their children and not incur any points/penalties. If employees need to stay home, and are unable to work from home, they can utilize PTO or file for unemployment. All absences will be approved even if they are unpaid. NOTE: HODGE cannot guarantee unemployment insurance related to COVID-19. Employee eligibility decisions are determined by the state in which the employee works.

As recommended by the CDC and other local/state officials, HODGE is postponing events with 50+ people until further notice. This includes our planned biometric screening events with HealthCheck360 and onsite flu shot clinics. These events were cancelled in 2020 and will be reassessed in 2021.

HODGE is taking extra precautions prior to allowing visitors into our operations. All visitors are asked to complete our Visitor Screening Form prior to entry into our facilities.

• Visitors with a fever or signs and symptoms of respiratory or flu-like illness will not be granted access into the HODGE facility.
• Non-business essential visitors are asked to suspend visits until further notice.

In many of our operations, HODGE shares workspaces with other businesses, creating the need to be consistent with our proactive measures and continuity plans. We have been in close contact with our cohabitation partnerships, and have agreed to exercise similar precautionary measures to reduce the likelihood of COVID-19 spread, as well as be transparent with each other if either parties become infected.

- If any HODGE employee (or one of their household family members) is infected or suspected of being infected with the COVID-19 virus, the employee should immediately notify their supervisor who will notify the Operations Manager and Vice President of Human Resources. If any HODGE personnel feel uncomfortable discussing the possible infection with their supervisor, they should contact their HODGE Human Resource representative directly.

- The HODGE Operations Manager will take appropriate action to secure the site and prevent the spread of infection, identify the potentially impacted HODGE employee and notify them to isolate themselves, and communicate the name of the infected individual confidentially to the Vice President of Human Resources.

- It is required that any HODGE employees showing symptoms for coronavirus or other illnesses, but didn’t test positive, stay home until they are symptom free for 24 hours.

- When an employee tests positive for COVID-19, HODGE will ask who the employee was in contact with 48 hours before their symptoms appeared. This 48 hour window is the timeframe in which they could have infected others.

- It is also required that any HODGE employees potentially exposed to coronavirus follow the below practices prior to and during their work shift for 10 days following their exposure. Potential exposure means living with someone who has COVID-19 or having close contact (within 6 feet for 15 or more cumulative minutes over a 24-hour period) of an individual with confirmed or suspected COVID-19. This protocol is also to be followed by anyone who is asymptomatic and waiting to receive a COVID-19 test result, or who has recently returned from air travel.

• Pre-Screen: Employees should measure their temperature and assess symptoms prior to starting work.
• Regular Monitoring: Employees should self-monitor their symptoms and report any change in symptoms immediately.
• Wear a Mask: Employees should wear a face mask at all times while in the workplace for 10 days after being exposed.
• Social Distance: Employees should keep 6 feet between them and others at all times and practice social distancing as work duties permit in the workplace.
• Disinfect and Clean work spaces: Clean and disinfect all areas such as offices, bathrooms, common areas, shared electronic equipment routinely.

- It is required that any infected HODGE employees stay home until they meet the CDC’s criteria to discontinue home isolation. Those who have tested positive for COVID-19, are experiencing symptoms, and were directed to care for themselves at home may discontinue isolation under the following conditions:

• At least 10 days have passed since the symptom onset and
• At least 24 hours have passed since resolution of fever without the use of fever-reducing medications and
• Other symptoms have improved.

For patients with severe illness please consult your provider or infection control experts as an isolation period of up to 20 days after symptom onset may be warranted.

In all cases, follow the guidance of your healthcare provider and local health department. The decision to stop home isolation should be made in consultation with your healthcare provider and state and local health departments. Local decisions depend on local circumstances.

Please note: CDC is no longer recommending a test-based strategy to end home isolation or for an employee to return to work. Data to date shows that a person who has had and recovered from COVID-19 may have low levels of virus in their bodies for up to 3 months after diagnosis. This means that if the person who has recovered from COVID-19 is retested within 3 months of initial infection, they may continue to have a positive test result, even though they are not spreading COVID-19.

- Should someone test positive for coronavirus at a HODGE location, HODGE will immediately implement the cleaning protocol outlined below.

HODGE has a responsibility to keep all commonly touched/shared surfaces clean and disinfected to help combat the spread of any viral droplets that may linger on areas our employees use most. Below you can download our cleaning protocol for COVID-19, which outlines how to disinfect common areas and properly clean an area that has been in contact with an infected person, along with a chemical list that is approved to prevent the spread of COVID-19 if used properly.

• View and download the COVID-19 Cleaning Protocol.
• View and download the Approved Chemical List.

Working from Home

HODGE’s full-time Supply Management employees are asked to work from home until further notice.

When working from home, the following guidelines should be followed:

• Must have high speed internet and VPN access
• Make sure your Lync (instant message) status is current. If you are online be sure to update your status appropriately to illustrate free, busy, or in a meeting.
• If you step away while teleworking (bathroom, lunch break, let the dog out), set your status to “be-right-back.” Work your full day as you would normally and make sure your supervisor knows where you are.
• Use sound judgment. If you have children and being home with them (assuming school is cancelled) prevents you from being able to work remotely, then please take a vacation day or consider asking for assistance from family or friends.

Response to a Positive Case

If an employee is diagnosed with COVID-19, we will send the employee home until they meet the criteria to discontinue home isolation. We have outlined this criteria above under Response to Infection. Before the employee departs, we will ask them to identify all individuals who worked in close proximity (within six feet for 15 or more cumulative minutes during a 24-hour period) with them in the previous 48 hours to ensure we have a full list of those who could be affected.

Returning to the Office

• On June 1, we welcomed five Dubuque employees back to the office as the first part of a phased return-to-office process. We will continue to assess the COVID-19 pandemic throughout the month of June and will be in touch when we’re ready to welcome a second wave of team members back to the office. This second phase will be done on a voluntary basis. Supply Management employees that work at a customer’s facility must comply with return-to-work requests specific to their customer’s location.
• View the safety policy we have in place for this phased return-to-work process, click here.

Sales & Service Travel

All team members are required to follow our COVID-19 travel guidelines when visiting customers and wear a mask whenever they are not in their vehicle.

In an effort to keep everyone safe, we have limited the number of people that can be in one vehicle to two team members as long as both individuals wear masks for the entire trip. However, if solo-travel is possible, we’d prefer everyone travel alone in their own vehicle.

Supporting our Customers

For our service team, we have notified customers that we’re committed to keeping their equipment up and running during this unprecedented time. Some locations may have visitor restrictions, and we’ll do our best to determine whether or not you’re allowed into the building prior to your arrival at that facility.

If, for any reason, you are put in a situation where you feel uncomfortable entering a customer’s facility, please know you are able to make the decision not to enter before notifying your HODGE supervisor.

Response to a Positive Case

If an employee is diagnosed with COVID-19, we will send the employee home until they meet the criteria to discontinue home isolation. We have outlined this criteria above under Response to Infection. Before the employee departs, we will ask them to identify all individuals who worked in close proximity (within six feet for 15 or more cumulative minutes during a 24-hour period) with them in the previous 48 hours to ensure we have a full list of those who could be affected.

Additional Precautions

As a precaution, we advise anyone who typically leaves personal necessities (medication, etc.) at work, to bring those necessities home with you after every shift. Should a location need to shut down, we want to ensure our employees have what they need out of the building.

Our Material Handling team is asked to check temperatures daily before coming into work by using a thermometer at home. If the employee has a temperature of 100.4 or above, or if the employee is experiencing any symptoms of illness, they need to stay home. Employees without access to a thermometer should contact their branch manager to discuss an alternative.

Every employee, customer, visitor, vendor, and supplier will be required to wear their mask 100% of the time while in a HODGE facility. Masks must also be worn when visiting customers at their locations.

At each of our dealerships there are common areas and items such as refrigerators, microwaves, and door handles that need to be disinfected regularly. Employees are asked to use a disinfectant/sanitizing wipe after using these items so they are safe for others to use as well. If possible, dealerships should designate a new person each day to do a thorough cleaning of all commonly shared items and surfaces.

Adjustment of Company Policy

We have amended the point policy for our warehouse team members until further notice to allow employees feeling ill to call into work with less than a 24-hour notice. Beginning Tuesday, March 17, employees experiencing symptoms of an illness can call in prior to their shift without receiving a point. Employees who do not show up for work and didn’t give notice prior to their shift will still receive points.

Response to Positive Case

If an employee is diagnosed with COVID-19, we will send the employee home until they meet the criteria to discontinue home isolation. We have outlined the criteria above under Response to Infection. Before the employee departs, we will ask them to identify all individuals who worked in close proximity (within six feet for 15 or more cumulative minutes during a 24-hour period) with them in the previous 48 hours to ensure we have a full list of those who could be affected. HODGE will then:

• Notify our customer that a case has been confirmed in our operations
• Determine if there is other space available if receipt of material is necessary while the affected area is cleaned

Additional Precautions

We advise anyone who typically leaves personal necessities (medication, etc.) at work, to bring those necessities home with you after every shift. Should a location need to shut down, we want to ensure our employees have what they need out of the building.

If for some reason there is a factory shutdown for extended period, HODGE will:

• Determine minimum staffing requirement needs using the fixed portion of warehouse calculator, at which time warehouse management will notify employees

On April 24, face protection was added to the list of PPE requirements for warehouse team members. This PPE requirement was mandatory upon confirmation all employees have access to some form of face protection, including HODGE-supplied buffs, masks, and shields.

Every employee, customer, visitor, vendor, and supplier will be required to wear their mask 100% of the time while at work, this includes being in line for temperature and symptom screenings.

HODGE team members are expected to comply with customers’ face covering policies when working within a customers’ operation. HODGE employees visiting John Deere factories in Dubuque, Davenport, and Kernersville must wear an approved face covering (two-layer cloth face mask or doubled-up buff/gaiter) 100% of the time during their visit.

As of April 21, HODGE began implementing temperature screenings at warehouse locations. Temperature screenings will be completed at all warehouse locations by May 1. The screening protocol asks employees if they are experiencing a fever, cough or shortness of breath before testing an individual’s temperature at their wrist. If the temperature is below 99.5, the employee can proceed to work. If the temperature is above 99.5 the employee will go through a secondary screening. View the complete protocol here.

Working from Home

Enterprise employees are welcome to work from home as long as their job responsibilities are asked to bring computers home at night as a precautionary measure should we need to ask team members to work from home. Team members without VPN access should contact Duncan Marshall.

Response to Positive Case

If an employee is diagnosed with COVID-19, we will send the employee home until they meet the criteria to discontinue home isolation. We have outlined this criteria above under Response to Infection. Before the employee departs, we will ask them to identify all individuals who worked in close proximity (within six feet for 15 or more cumulative minutes during a 24-hour period) with them in the previous 48 hours to ensure we have a full list of those who could be affected.

Additional Precautions

As a precaution, we advise anyone who typically leaves personal necessities (medication, etc.) at work, to bring those necessities home with you after every shift. Should a location need to shut down, we want to ensure our employees have what they need out of the building.

Enterprise staff are required to check their temperature daily before coming into the office by using a thermometer at home or using the temperature screening device located at the entrance. If the employee’s temperature is 100.4 or above or if they are experiencing any symptoms of illness, they will stay home.

Enterprise employees are required to disinfect shared surfaces and devices with a sanitizing wipe after each use.

In an effort to make sure all commonly touched surfaces are regularly cleaned and disinfected, Enterprise staff who are still working onsite have an assigned day where they are responsible for additional cleaning.

All meetings exceeding conference room capacity limits (3-4 people), should be conducted via phone or video meeting. When a meeting requires the team to gather in a physical space, employees must remain six feet apart. No more than two employees can meet in an individual office at one time.

Every employee, customer, visitor, vendor, and supplier will be required to wear their mask 100% of the time while in a HODGE facility. If you have a single, closed-door office and are alone in your office, you may take off your mask. However, if someone stops by to chat with you both individuals need to have a mask on.

Visit the Iowa Workforce Development (IWD) website to file for the Iowa Unemployment Insurance: CLICK HERE.

Required information:

• If you don’t have a username and password for the website already, you will need to create one.
• To file for unemployment, you will need your: social security number, home mailing address, telephone number, email address, check stubs or W-2 forms, mailing addresses of previous employers, and your start and end dates with employers.

Tips for filing:

• Opening or reactivating a claim should be done during the week of your, ‘No Work Opportunity/Unemployment’
• If you are filing due to COVID-19 related reasons, please select ‘COVID-19’ from the list of Reason Codes, in the drop-down menu on page 8
• If you work within HODGE’s Material Handling business unit, use Hodge Material Handling for employer name, not Hodge
• If you work within HODGE’s Logistics business unit, use TM Logistics or TM Inc. for employer name, not Hodge
• Agency Employees should discuss filing for unemployment with their agency representative; TM Inc. is not the employer

View FAQs on the IWD website.

NOTE: HODGE cannot guarantee unemployment insurance related to COVID-19. Employee eligibility decisions are determined by the state in which the employee works.

Visit the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) website to file for the Illinois Unemployment Insurance: CLICK HERE.

Required information:

• To file for unemployment, you will need: social security number, driver’s license or state-issued ID, mailing address, phone number, and employment dates.
• If claiming a child or spouse as a dependent, you will need the dependent’s social security number(s), date(s) of birth, and full name(s).

Tips for filing:

• Opening or reactivating a claim should be done during the week of your, ‘No Work Opportunity/Unemployment’
• If you are filing due to COVID-19 related reasons, please select ‘COVID-19’ from the list of Reason Codes if listed
• If you work within HODGE’s Material Handling business unit, use Hodge Material Handling for employer name, not Hodge
• If you work within HODGE’s Logistics business unit, use TM Logistics or TM Inc. for employer name, not Hodge
• Agency Employees should discuss filing for unemployment with their agency representative; TM Inc. is not the employer
• At this time, it is unclear whether Illinois will waive the 1-week waiting period requirement

View FAQs on the IDES website.

NOTE: HODGE cannot guarantee unemployment insurance related to COVID-19. Employee eligibility decisions are determined by the state in which the employee works.

Visit the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) website to file for the Wisconsin Unemployment Insurance: CLICK HERE.

Required information:

• If you don’t have a username and password for the website already, you will need to create one.
• To file for unemployment, you will need: a valid email or phone number, social security number, driver’s license or state-issued ID, current mailing address, and work history for the last 18 months.
• View the fill list of information you need to apply by clicking here.

Tips for filing:

• Opening or reactivating a claim should be done during the week of your, ‘No Work Opportunity/Unemployment’
• If you are filing due to COVID-19 related reasons, please select ‘COVID-19’ from the list of Reason Codes (if they have one)
• Use Hodge Material Handling for employer name, not Hodge
• Agency Employees should discuss filing for unemployment with their agency representative; TM Inc. is not the employer

View FAQs on the DWD website.

NOTE: HODGE cannot guarantee unemployment insurance related to COVID-19. Employee eligibility decisions are determined by the state in which the employee works.

Visit the North Carolina Division of Employment Security website to file for the North Carolina Unemployment Insurance: CLICK HERE. If you don’t have access to a computer, you may file over the phone by calling 888-737-0259.

Required information:

• Your social security number
• Details from your most recent employer about separation, vacation or severance pay you received, will receive, or are entitled to receive.
• View the fill list of information you need to apply by clicking here.

Tips for filing:

• Details regarding any retirement pay (gross monthly amount of pay along with proof).
• Your bank routing number and account number if you would like unemployment payments directly deposited into your bank account. If you do not select direct deposit, payment will be placed on a DES issued debit card.
• Your work history for the past two years (employer name as it appears on your check stub, employer’s payroll and physical addresses, telephone number, employment dates, rate of pay and reason for separation from each employer).
• Opening or reactivating a claim should be done during the week of your, ‘No Work Opportunity/Unemployment’
• If you are filing due to COVID-19 related reasons, please select ‘COVID-19’ from the list of Reason Codes when filing your claim
• Use TM Logistics or TM Inc for employer name, not Hodge
• If you are filing due to COVID-19 related reasons, please select ‘A Layoff due to Coronavirus’ or ‘A Reduction of Hours due to Coronavirus’ from the list of Reason Codes on page 3 when filing your claim
  
• Agency Employees should discuss filing for unemployment with their agency representative; TM Inc. is not the employer
• COVID-19 Information: https://des.nc.gov/need-help/covid-19-information

Learn more on the DES website.

NOTE: HODGE cannot guarantee unemployment insurance related to COVID-19. Employee eligibility decisions are determined by the state in which the employee works.

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