Carma Peters, president/CEO of the $213 million Michigan Legacy Credit Union, announced new policies Thursday, including unlimited PTO for staff, in an effort to minimize the coronavirus effects on employees and members.

Peters said any employee can take unlimited PTO when they fall ill with any malady or if they become infected with the coronavirus and must self-quarantine.

About 20% of the Pontiac, Mich.-based credit union's 70 full-time workers are already working from home.

MLCU has also implemented a mandatory work-at-home policy for any employee who has traveled out of state over the past two weeks.

On a case-by-case basis, the credit union will offer solutions for loan payments for members who work in customer service areas and whose employment may be disrupted due to cancellations of travel, large events and other crowd-driven jobs.

Peters said that early communication provides more options for MLCU members and that experienced credit union staff will be available to assist every member affected by COVID-19.

The credit union is also implementing enhanced customer service hours by phone to respond to evening queries from members.

Additionally, members are being encouraged to use online and mobile banking and webchat in lieu of branch visits.

"A pandemic such as this is the best incentive for all MLCU members, and consumers in general, to sign up for access to mobile banking services," Peters said. "The less face-to-face contact we can have in the near term, the better for all."

However, Peters ordered 2,000 small individual bottles of MLCU hand sanitizer that will be available on Monday for members who visit the credit union's six branches.

The credit union serves more than 22,000 members.

Although employees at the $828 million Silver State Schools Credit Union have enhanced their attention to cleanliness and disinfecting all areas of at their nine locations, the Las Vegas-based credit union is also asking its 55,000 members to use online and mobile banking options.

To encourage members to pay their loans by phone, the Las Vegas-based credit union is waiving convenience fees until further notice. Members also have 24/7 access to their cash via surcharge free ATMs.

"At SSSCU we are taking COVID-19 seriously and looking into taking all precautions to keep our members and employees safe," SSCU President/CEO Scott A. Arkills said. "We know how essential it is for our members to have access to the services they depend on at SSSCU and we are proud to say that we do not anticipate any disruption in services including branch hours at all of our nine local branches. Additionally, we remind members they have the option to conduct most of their banking remotely via our online banking portal and mobile app."

Some credit unions have canceled their public events.

For example, the $1.6 billion AmFirst Credit Union in Birmingham, Ala., said Friday it has postponed its community-wide Spring Shred Day on March 21. The event is expected to be rescheduled.