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COVID was a long time ago. I have an employee who insists on wearing a mask to work. Can I tell him to stop wearing it?

?Although we are no longer in a state of emergency as to COVID, and media coverage has all but disappeared, the virus still claims thousands of lives every week in the U.S., as recently reported in the New York Times.?https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/05/11/us/covid-deaths-us.html.

This means certain employees may want to continue to wear a mask to avoid COVID, to avoid contracting other viruses, or to manage poor air quality and their asthma, for example.

Remember, people wore masks prior to the pandemic for many reasons some unrelated to airborne viruses. This particular employee may be following specific orders from his doctor to wear a mask related to other airborne risks. Ordering him to take off his mask may place his health at risk or create a liability risk for your organization.

You would not ask an employee wearing an ankle brace, finger splint, special glasses, or a hearing aid to take those off, so why would you ask this employee to take off his mask?

The final takeaway is if the mask is in violation of a policy of some sort, then you should let your human resources department to address it and cooperate with any decision they make, which would be in consultation with the employee and his healthcare provider.

Jack McCalmon, Leslie Zieren, and Emily Brodzinski are attorneys with more than 50 years combined experience assisting employers in lowering their risk, including answering questions, like the one above, through the McCalmon Group's Best Practices Help Line. The Best Practice Help Line is a service of The McCalmon Group, Inc. Your organization may have access to The Best Practice Help Line or a similar service from another provider at no cost to you or at a discount. For questions about The Best Practice Help Line or what similar services are available to you via this Platform, call 888.712.7667.

If you have a question that you would like Jack McCalmon, Leslie Zieren, or Emily Brodzinski to consider for this column, please submit it to [email protected]. Please note that The McCalmon Group cannot guarantee that your question will be answered. Answers are based on generally accepted risk management best practices. They are not, and should not be considered, legal advice. If you need an answer immediately or desire legal advice, please call your local legal counsel.