Screening your employees for COVID-19 is a legal minefield. And Employee COVID-19 Screening rule.
Sure, it’s the right thing to do, but get it wrong and the result can be catastrophic for your practice.
Multiple state and federal agencies are policing how you screen for this virus. Knowing how to comply is essential to keeping your practice doors open. All it takes is one employee to complain that your screening process infringes on their privacy or employment rights, and you could be faced with very real legal consequences. With Employee COVID-19 Screening rule.
There is help available. During her 60-minute online training, labor & employment attorney Michelle Anderson, JD, will help you cut through COVID-19 screening confusion.
Michelle will walk you through specifically how to screen your employees without leaving your practice exposed to privacy, discrimination, compensation and employment legal risks.
Here are just a few of the COVID-19 employee screening compliance questions you’ll get answered during this online training:
- What should you do when an employee refuses to undergo a screening?
- Which of your staff qualify to conduct employee temperature readings?
- What are the legal ramifications of not checking employee temperatures and symptoms?
- Which Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) rules are required?
- Must you compensate employees who you send home due to COVID-19 symptoms?
- How do HIPAA privacy rules differ for employees vs patients?
- Should or shouldn’t you document employee screening results (if so, how)?
- What distancing and building admittance guidelines apply during temperature check ins?
- Can you make staff use PTO if you send them home from having high fevers?
- What Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) must you provide your designated screener?
- Should hourly employees record their start time before or after screening takes place?
- What are the legal risks of losing screening requirements when your local cases drop?
- How should you modify your employment policies to include COVID-19 screening?
- What is the danger of not complying with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines?
- Can you require all employees that travel on a plane be tested prior to returning to work?
- Is it safer to have employees self-report symptoms and temperature readings?
- What symptoms are you not allowed to ask employees about?
- How does the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) affect your screening processes?
- What type of thermometer – infrared scan or oral – best protects employee privacy?
- Can you screen and test applicants before offering them a job?
- Are there specific Department of Labor (DOL) compensation laws you must comply with?
- What documentation should you require to ensure an employee is safe to return to work?
- And so much more …
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that screening your practice’s employees for COVID-19 is as simple as taking temperatures. There are specific state and federal information gathering, protection and retention rules you must comply with – and you MUST MEET THEM ALL. Missing even one requirement could land you in serious legal hot water.
Screening your employees for COVID-19 is the right thing to do. It helps keep everyone safe and can reduce patient and employee fear of becoming infected. But you must implement screening precautions and procedures that comply with state and federal rules to avoid allegations of discrimination, employment violations and/or HIPAA fraud.
Don’t wait, sign up for this online training today to ensure employee COVID-19 screening rule compliance and protect your practice from the costly legal implications of getting it wrong.
P.S. Added Bonus, register for this online training, and you will receive a free downloadable “COVID-19 Employee Intake Questionnaire Template” that guides you through what to ask your ill employee and the steps you MUST do to file and respond to the case so you don’t violate privacy and safety protocols. This file helps you meet requirements to immediately record and file your employee’s positive COVID-19 diagnosis so you can comply with new State and Federal employment rules.
*Tool will be included with your presentation handouts.
With unique training and more than 20 years of experience in executive management, workforce development, and practicing employment law, Michelle Anderson helps businesses anticipate and solve practical and legal challenges in the workplace by defending against various claims and assisting with compliance practices and procedures.
Michelle defends employers against claimed violations involving unlawful discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination, retaliation, breach of contract, leave and disability, wage and hour, unfair labor practices, and public accommodations and workplace safety laws. To help clients comply with applicable laws and regulations, she advises on multi-state employee handbooks, employment applications, policies, and procedures; workplace investigations; Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) matters; human resource management and systems; supervisor training; diversity and inclusion; criminal background checks; as well as Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and state wage and hour audits.
An integral member of the firm’s Wage and Hour Practice Group and Women’s Initiative and Leadership Committee, she is also a key contributor to Fisher Phillips’ COVID-19 Task Force, which has been a leader in providing advice and training to businesses around the country.
Before law school, Michelle had a successful career in workforce development, operating and managing employment and training programs for a private non-profit corporation under contracts from federal, state, and local governments. Among many others, these programs supported individuals with disabilities, those lacking a GED or high school diploma, and those on public assistance.
The speaker was knowledgeable, concise, and engaging.
Jacqueline Foreman
Manager, Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center
