As businesses across the country begin to think about reopening their doors it is important that both management and employees know how their relationship might have changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. New laws and regulations have been introduced to help maintain healthy business operations while also prioritizing the safety of employees.
While the sanitation and social distancing protocols have been well documented, new legal obligations such as the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, the application of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and other legal adaptations are not as well known.
Here, we will highlight some of the new requirements and legal issues that now guide the employee-employer dynamic, as well as provide resources to find more information on the topic.
The new laws and regulations (as well as tweaks made to already existing labor laws) were mainly implemented to address these topics:
- Sick Leave
- Caretaker leave
- Employee privacy
- Health & Safety of workforce
- Maintenance of societal infrastructure
- Maintenance of healthy business operations
The Family First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) addresses the need for new employee paid leave rights and how businesses should handle sick, at risk, or caretaking workers during the pandemic. Here’s what you need to know:
- Effective through Dec 31, 2020
- Employees may be entitled to
- 2 weeks full paid leave for quarantined or symptomatic employees from COVID-19
- 2 weeks of ⅔ pay leave for employees with need to care for an affected individual or child whose school/childcare provider has closed due to the pandemic
- Up to an additional 10 weeks of ⅔ pay leave for employees that need to care for an afflicted individual or child whose school/childcare provider has closed due to COVID
- An employee qualifies for leave if they
- are subject to government-mandated quarantine
- are experiencing symptoms
- are caring for a child or sick individual
- Applies to
- Government employers
- Private employers with fewer than 500 people
- Small (fewer than 50 employees) businesses may be exempt
More information on the FFCRA can be found here.
The Americans with Disabilities Act applicability (ADA) has been defined to address the concern of employee’s rights without compromising the safety of the workforce. Here’s what you need to know:
- Employers may subject employees to mandatory COVID screening as well as health questionnaires
- COVID test results must remain confidential
- Employers may require a doctor’s note for fitness of work, however developing other policies are suggested due to the timeliness of possibly overwhelmed medical staff.
More information regarding the applicability of the ADA can be found here.
It is important to know your rights and suggested action as a business owner while navigating the COVID pandemic and returning to work. The CDC provides helpful suggestions and guidelines on a variety of FAQ’s for employees and employers. It can also help to have an experienced team take a look at your business operations and identify any compliance, regulatory, or safety concerns.
At Evans Brothers Consulting we have over 60 years of compliance and safety experience in addition to the experienced lawyers we have in company management.