Back to The Office? Make Sure You’re Prepared!

Business regulations relating to COVID-19 are shifting as more and more restrictions are being lifted in hopes of reopening. Now is the time employers must consider how they plan on preparing their business for reopening. What measures should be implemented to ensure that employees have a safe and healthy environment to work in?

1. The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) requires employers to provide a safe and hazard-free workplace for their employees. Regarding COVID-19, the recommended guidance includes identifying different risk levels and identification. This risk assessment would identify the different risk levels each employee holds. This will largely depend on each member contamination or interaction with the Coronavirus.
2. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends requiring and encouraging certain precautions to ensure ultimate health and safety. Some of these recommendations include:
3. Supplying hand sanitizer
4. Elimination of touch points
5. Limiting the number of employees in bathrooms and cafeterias
6. Encouraging the wearing of masks
7. Ensuring employees remain six feet apart
8. Posting signs to encourage frequent hand washing
9. Employers are permitted, and even encouraged, to request their employees to go for testing before returning to the workplace. There are three different forms of testing.
10. Temperature Screening: for the employees physically entering the premises, body temperature testing is recommended
11. Antibody Blood Testing: Employers may require their employees to go for blood testing to see if they have the COVID-19 antibody
12. COVID-19 Swab Testing: Employers may also recommend or require their team to go for a nose swab test which will determine if they currently have the Coronavirus
13. Naturally, these tests can give much needed information which can allow the workplace to function much smoother and safer.
14. New York State requires that businesses stagger their shifts and hours. Governor Cuomo recommends to “adjust workplace hours and shift design as necessary to reduce density in the workplace”. In addition to different hours, employers are encouraged to only allow back their most essential employees. Allowing only certain employees to return at specific time while implementing hygienic behavior can create a safe and conducive work environment.

These precautions will help ensure the safety and well-being of your employees in the workplace. These steps will not only keep your team healthy, but it will give your employees the sense of care and concern. That in and of itself is encouraging!

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

State Reopening Plans:

• State Reopen Plans, Executive Orders Concerning Reopening

CDC:

• CDC Interim Guidance for Implementing Safety Practices for Critical Infrastructure Workers Who May Have Had Exposure to a Person with Suspected or Confirmed COVID-19
• CDC Resources for Businesses and Employers
• The CDC addresses frequently asked questions about personal protective equipment (PPE)
• The CDC has recommended sequences for donning (putting on) and doffing (taking off) of PPE

DOL:

• COVID-19 and the Fair Labor Standards Act Questions and Answers
• COVID-19 and the Family and Medical Leave Act Questions and Answers
• Families First Coronavirus Response Act: Employee Paid Leave Rights
• DOL Coronavirus Resources
• DOL COVID-19 and the American Workplace

EEOC:

• EEOC Delays EEO Data Collections Due to COVID-19 Public Health Emergency
• EEOC Answers Questions about the Pandemic and Antidiscrimination Laws in Recorded Webinar
• EEOC ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and COVID-19
• EEOC Pandemic Preparedness in the Workplace and the ADA

OSHA:

• OSHA COVID-19 Information for Workers and Employers
• OSHA Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19

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