Questions to answer before Quarantine Exit

General

1. When will employers be able to reopen physical locations? It depends on the local governors’ directives. What else?
2. What are the safeguards employers must be all set with? 
3. What legal obligations will employers need to consider as part of reopening plans?
4. Which employees should return to work first?
5. What social distancing protocols should employers implement?
6. What employee guidelines will be required?
7. May employers allow employees to continue to work remotely?
8. May employers resume meetings and conferences?
9. May employers resume employee business travel?
10. May employers resume office celebrations or events, and allow employees to arrange celebrations such as office birthday parties?
11. What policies need to be updated as employees return to work?

Environmental and Physical Considerations

1. What logistical considerations should employers consider when preparing for the physical return of their workforce?
2. Are employers required to modify the physical workplace?
3. Are employers required to modify the physical workplace?
4. Are employers required to modify work hours?
5. Are employers required to maintain new cleaning or hygiene regimens?
6. Can employers require employees to observe infection control practices (e.g., regular hand washing and social distancing protocols)?
7. Should employers draft safety response policies and communicate them to employees?

Employee, Applicant, Vendor and Customer Health Screenings and Other Health Considerations

1. Can employers require the use of personal protective equipment (e.g., masks, gloves, etc.) in the workplace?
2. If an employer requires the use of personal protective equipment, can an employee request accommodation for modified protective gear? Must an employer grant such a request?
3. Must employers provide employees with personal protective equipment?
4. What if an hourly employee reports working without his/her required personal protective equipment?
5. What if an employee provided with personal protective equipment repeatedly comes to work without it?
6. Can an employer screen the health of its employees, such as through taking employee temperatures?
7. Can employers administer COVID-19 tests before permitting employees to enter the physical workplace?
8. Should hourly, non-exempt employees be compensated for health screening time?
9. What measures should employers take to protect the employees from conducting health screening?
10. Can employers implement screening protocols for customers or workplace visitors?
11. What procedures should employers put in place for employee health screening at work?
12. Does workplace screening need to be consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)?
13. What if an employee has a temperature or otherwise presents COVID-19 symptoms?
14. What if an employee refuses to consent to health testing?
15. What if an employee is concerned with another employee’s presence in the office because the employee is exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms?
16. If and when a vaccine for COVID-19 is available, can employers require vaccination?
17. How should employers define close contact, when determining if an employee was in close contact with someone diagnosed with COVID-19?

Hiring Issues

1. How should employers conduct employee interviews when hiring?
2. When hiring, may employers screen applicants for COVID-19?
3. May an employer take an applicant’s temperature as part of a post-offer, pre-employment medical exam?
4. May an employer delay the start date of an applicant who has COVID-19 or symptoms associated with it?
5. May an employer withdraw a job offer when it needs the applicant to start immediately but the individual has COVID-19 or symptoms associated with it?
6. May an employer postpone a new hire’s start date or withdraw a job offer because the individual is at higher risk for COVID-19 (e.g., 65 years old, pregnant, etc.)?
7. Given remote work, how can one validate I-9s?

HR Issues

1. Are there any steps employers should take to address workplace harassment related to COVID-19?
2. What if an employee does not want to participate in business travel due to COVID-19 concerns?
3. What steps should an employer take if an employee returns from a high-risk travel area?
4. What if an employee refuses to report to work because they object to taking public transportation, live in, or must travel to work through a “hot spot,” or have other such COVID-19-related concerns?
5. May an ADA-covered employer require employees who have been away from the workplace during a pandemic to provide a doctor’s note certifying fitness to return to work?
6. Should I direct employees who believe they were infected by COVID-19 at work to submit workers’ compensation claims?

Sick Leave Considerations

1. What if an employee becomes ill with COVID-19 or is placed on an order of quarantine after we reopen?
2. What if an employee has to take care of someone who is ill with COVID-19 after we reopen, or has to take care of a dependent child whose school is closed due to COVID-19?
3. If an employee has a preexisting mental illness exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, may the employee be entitled to reasonable accommodation (absent undue hardship)?
4. How much information may an employer request from an employee who calls in sick, in order to protect the rest of its workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic?
5. May employers require that employees stay home if they have COVID-19 symptoms?
6. Where must employers store on-site medical examination results?
7. What files are considered medical files?
8. If an employee discloses that he or she has COVID-19, to whom may employers disclose the identity of the employee?
9. Should an employer postpone discussing accommodation requests with any employees who will not need accommodation until after the employee returns to work since the employee is currently working remotely?
10. What if an employee was already receiving reasonable accommodation prior to COVID-19 and now requests an additional or altered accommodation?
11. Should employers still engage in the interactive process during the pandemic?
12. Can the pandemic itself be a relevant consideration in deciding whether a requested accommodation can be denied because it poses an undue hardship?

Employer Tenant/Landlord Considerations

• What should employers who lease space discuss with their landlords?

Disability-Related Inquiries and Medical Exams

1. How will COVID-19 impact the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)?
2. If a job may only be performed at the workplace, are there reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities absent undue hardship that could offer protection to an employee who, due to a preexisting disability, is at higher risk from COVID-19?
3. If an employee has a preexisting mental illness exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, may the employee be entitled to reasonable accommodation (absent undue hardship)?
4. How much information may an employer request from an employee who calls in sick, in order to protect the rest of its workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic?
5. May employers require that employees stay home if they have COVID-19 symptoms?
6. Where must employers store on-site medical examination results?
7. What files are considered medical files?
8. If an employee discloses that he or she has COVID-19, to whom may employers disclose the identity of the employee?
9. Should an employer postpone discussing accommodation requests with any employees who will not need accommodation until after the employee returns to work since the employee is currently working remotely?
10. What if an employee was already receiving reasonable accommodation prior to COVID-19 and now requests an additional or altered accommodation?
11. Should employers still engage in the interactive process during the pandemic?
12. Can the pandemic itself be a relevant consideration in deciding whether a requested accommodation can be denied because it poses an undue hardship?

Employer Tenant/Landlord Considerations

• What should employers who lease space discuss with their landlords?

Union Considerations

1. My workforce is unionized. What protocol must I follow to bring my employees back to work?
2. What if my CBA does not have language that controls recalling employees after a layoff?
3. What if employees do not want to return to work because of safety concerns?
4. Do I have to bargain new safety protocols with the union if we don’t have contract language requiring it?

Employee Benefits Considerations

1. What should employers be considering from a benefits standpoint when employees return to work?