In this update:

• EEOC Guidance for Employers
• Employer’s Questions to Employees
• Telework for Employees
• Infection Control At Work
• Our Services

Now that Covid-19 is a global pandemic, what can employers do?

According to the EEOC, there are Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant methods that employers may use to identify which employees are more likely to be unavailable for work because of the current pandemic.  Employers may make inquiries that are not disability-related.

According to the EEOC such inquiries are not disability-related if they are designed to identify potential non-medical reasons for absences during a pandemic that stands on an equal footing with medical reasons.

Please let us know if you need help or assistance (contact us here).

Employer’s Questions to Employees During a Pandemic

The EEOC has previously taken the position that Americans with Disabilities Act-covered employers may ask such employees if they are experiencing pandemic-illness-like symptoms as long as employers maintain all information about employee illness as a confidential medical record in compliance with the ADA.  Stay tuned and contact us if you have any questions about these types of questions and this pandemic.

Employee Telework

Now that we are in a full-blown global pandemic, as related to employment, one word is being tossed around constantly as businesses and governmental entities try to balance their business obligations with the health needs of their employees.  That word is:  telework.  From an Americans-with-Disabilities Act perspective, teleworking is a well-known reasonable accommodation.  Thus, ADA-eligible employees may request to telework and employers may allow them to do so.

Infection Control at Work

If an employer has grown weary of its employees sneezing and coughing everywhere and on everyone, that employer should feel free to adopt and enforce policies regarding infection-control practices, such as regular hand washing, coughing and sneezing etiquette, and proper tissue usage and disposal.

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