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August 13, 2021
Brian Dufrene
August 13, 2021
In a memo sent to all Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office (TPSO) personnel on Thursday, Sheriff Tim Soignet highlighted new COVID-19 policies for the agency. Effective immediately, the Sheriff’s Office will cover up to 10 days of leave for all vaccinated personnel who contract the coronavirus, and unvaccinated employees will be required to use personal leave time afforded to them (vacation or sick days), Soignet announced.
Before the current policy, TPSO covered all COVID-infected employees’ leave without them having to use vacation days or sick leave, Soignet explained. “First of all, when I took office, there was no sick leave…I gave our people sick leave. When this COVID stuff took place, if our people were sick — I ate it. No sick leave, no vacation — we ate it,” he told the Times. “Now we are getting people [who are] sick, and they are not vaccinated…If they take the vaccination and get sick, I’ll eat it. But if you don’t, you’re going to have to use your sick leave.”
The sheriff noted he’s not making the vaccine mandatory for current employees, but he encourages them to receive it.
“I had 19 people sick, and [none] of them were vaccinated. Everybody that was vaccinated is working…What’s going to happen when everybody gets sick, and then I can’t send police officers. I have to look at public safety,” he said.
The policy also calls for employees, regardless of vaccination status, out for more than 10 days to begin a short-term disability claim. “Instead of me using my general fund to pay [employees], I have insurance for that, so they still get paid,” Soignet explained. “I’m just not using the tax dollars because that’s why I pay the insurance. That saves tax dollars.”
Soignet added that about 75 percent of sheriff offices around the state are implementing similar policies. Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre said as soon as the vaccine became available, his office notified personnel that all unvaccinated employees who contracted COVID would be out “on their own time.” Webre also highlighted that the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office requires unvaccinated employees to wear masks in the office and is hiring vaccinated individuals only.
Soignet’s memo also states that “all new hire applicants must provide proof of vaccination before they are considered for hire by the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office,” and no unvaccinated employee can attend the academy training facility.
“If I get a couple of people sick over there [at the training facility] and have to quarantine, the academy is shutting down,” Soignet said. “If I shut it down, that’s not putting new officers on the street.”
Read the full memo below:
