employment law – Page 13 – Coronavirus (COVID-19)

March 9, 2020September 1, 2020 by Duane Morris

The Workplace In The Time Of Coronavirus (Part I): Legal Guidelines For Navigating The Upheaval

In the middle of last week, Twitter asked its 5000 employees to work remotely, and soon thereafter LinkedIn, Square and Lyft did the same. Microsoft, SAP, JPMorgan Chase and hundreds of other major employers have imposed sharp restrictions on travel, domestic as well as international. Facebook, Stanford University, and Google have canceled long-planned business conferences and events.

Workplace practices are shifting on a daily basis. So too are employment patterns: Doordash, Instacart, Amazon Prime and other delivery services report increases in demand for workers, while restaurants and entertainment venues are reducing hours and laying off workers. As this is written, United Airlines announces significant reductions to routes, and unpaid leaves of absence and/or reduced schedules for employees.

The other public health emergencies of the recent past—SARS in 2005, The H1N1 flu virus in 2009, and Ebola in 2014—brought only temporary workforce shifts. It’s too soon to say if the coronavirus will bring longer term workforce impacts, and how employers might respond. Employers though now are faced with responding to immediate workforce challenges.

To address these immediate challenges we can bring in Ms. Eve Klein, the head of the 75 attorney Employment Labor Benefits and Immigration (ELBI) Practice Group at Duane Morris LLP. There aren’t many labor and employment issues that Klein hasn’t addressed in the more than 30 years she’s been in practice. She has counseled employers through the previous public health emergencies, as well as other economic disruptions.

Over the past week she and other attorneys in the ELBI Group have received hundreds of inquiries from companies asking about their options and responsibilities in light of the numerous labor and employment laws on the local, state and federal levels (laws governing worker safety, worker privacy, wage and hour requirements, and protections for workers with disabilities to name a few). Coronavirus workplace management today, as might be expected, is the overwhelming employment concern of companies, large and small.

Klein and other ELBI attorneys have drafted a lengthy memo (updated regularly) summarizing the wide range of inquiries, and setting out very general guidelines. Here are five of the topic areas and guideline summaries—indicating the current main concerns, as well as the complexities in balancing business continuity with worker safety and preferences, and the legal edifice.

To read the full text of this article by Duane Morris attorney Michael Bernick, please visit the Forbes website.

March 5, 2020September 1, 2020 by Duane Morris

Coronavirus and the Workplace: A Quick Reference Guide for Employers

With no signs of slowing down, the coronavirus, or COVID-19, presents a potentially serious risk to the safety and welfare of employees and the financial health of companies. Employers must be prepared to address COVID-19 related issues in the workplace without violating employees’ rights and without causing unnecessary confusion.

What Should Employers Do to Protect Their Workforce?

There is no known vaccine or treatment for COVID-19, and thus the best way to protect the workplace is to avoid exposure to the virus. Based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) recommendations, employers should:

Encourage employees to cleanse their hands regularly and thoroughly with soap and water or with an alcohol-based rub, avoid touching their eyes, nose and mouth, and cover their coughs or sneezes with a tissue.
Review cleaning operations to ensure frequently touched surfaces are disinfected regularly.
Encourage employees to avoid contact with sick people and to stay home if they are sick.

Personal protective equipment is a must for healthcare workers, however, it is not likely necessary for employees who are well, according to the CDC. If an employer receives a request from an employee to wear masks or gloves, employers should consider the requests with three issues in mind: whether the employee (1) has traveled to or from an area where COVID-19 is prevalent; (2) is exhibiting symptoms of the virus or has an underlying health condition; or (3) has been in close contact with someone who has COVID-19. The employer may also consider directing such employee not to report to work for a period of at least 14 days or longer, based on current CDC advice.

View the full Alert on the Duane Morris LLP website.

March 5, 2020August 31, 2020 by Duane Morris

When May Employers Require Workers to Self-Quarantine?

Spring break is near, and globe-trotting employees soon may return to the workplace from countries that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and State Department have classified as areas where travelers could be at high risk for contracting COVID-19.

Employers can require workers to stay away from the workplace during the maximum incubation period of the virus—thought to be approximately 14 days—but may decide to not be so strict with employees returning from countries with low-risk assessment levels or low travel-alert levels.

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Employers shouldn’t promise employees that they will be paid while in quarantine, said Jonathan Segal, an attorney with Duane Morris in Philadelphia and New York City. Whether the waiting period is paid will depend on whether work can be performed at home and the nature of the job classification, such as exempt or nonexempt. Some employers are saying that if employees must wait at home before returning to work, they will still be paid, but not every business can afford that, Segal said.

To read the full article, visit the SHRM.org website.

March 3, 2020September 1, 2020 by Duane Morris

During Coronavirus Outbreak, Should Employers Check Workers’ Temperatures?

Infrared forehead thermometers—so-called thermometer guns—are “notoriously unreliable,” according to medical experts quoted in an article in The New York Times, but that hasn’t kept the devices from flying off store shelves as coronavirus cases pop up around the world. Some employers are using them to take workers’ temperatures, then sending the workers home if they have a fever.

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Is it legal for employers to take workers’ temperatures? If the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or a state or local health authority proclaims a pandemic has spread in an area, then yes, it is; otherwise, it is not, according to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) guidance.

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“Employers are doing the right thing by considering all options potentially available to them in the event of a pandemic, including temperature testing,” said Jonathan Segal, an attorney with Duane Morris in Philadelphia and New York City.

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To read the full article, visit the SHRM website.

February 12, 2020September 4, 2020 by Duane Morris

My Boss Wants Me to Travel During the Coronavirus. Do I Have to Go?

As the deadly coronavirus becomes a global pandemic, companies like Apple and Starbucks have stopped operating in China, and others, like Sony and Amazon, have pulled out of global trade shows like this month’s World Mobile Congress in Barcelona.

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The only opportunity for an employee who contracts coronavirus to seek damages outside of workers’ compensation is if their company has behaved recklessly—such as by ordering them to Wuhan, the epi-center of the virus. According to Jonathan Segal, a partner at the law firm Duane Morris, the fact the U.S. State Department has issued a Level 4 advisory for China—a flat-out “do not travel” warning—means firms could face special liability in the event their employees contracted the virus.

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“There’s the legal answer but, from a practical management point of view, you don’t want to force people who are scared into doing something,” says Neuberger.

Segal echoed this sentiment, saying “it’s a horrible message to the workforce” to order employees to travel when they are fearful of a pandemic.

[…]

To read the full text of this article, please visit the Fortune website.