HR Straight Talk - Returning to Work as COVID-19 Questions Continue Swirl
As employees return to brick and mortar workplaces question about keeping employees safe and about pay continue to plague employers. Here is some information we put together that may help as you work through some thorny HR issues.
Steps to Take If Your Employee Tests Positive or Notifies You of Contact with Someone Who Tests Positive for COVID-19
Immediately send the employee home, tell him or her to contact a health care provider, and to quarantine for at least 10 days.
Vacate, clean, and sanitize work spaces and common areas that were used by the affected employee in the days prior to diagnosis.
Employers should retrace the activities of the affected employee and notify any co‑workers who might have had contact with that person in the days before the diagnosis. Please Note: Employers must not divulge the affected employee's identity when making those notifications. They may provide only enough information to enable those who may have been exposed to take appropriate measures.
Employers are not required to obtain a negative COVID-19 test before infected employees can return to work, but instead may follow these CDC guidelines: (Please check with your local public health office for additional requirements.)
Those who never develop symptoms can end isolation 10 days after testing positive or being exposed to someone who has tested positive.
Those infected who have moderate to mild symptoms can end isolation after 10 days if at least 24 hours have passed without a fever and other symptoms have improved.
Those infected who have severe symptoms may need to continue isolation for a full 20 days or longer.
Child Care Paid Leave Related to COVID19
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) remains a current law through December 31, 2020. This Act requires employers with fewer than 500 employees to provide up to 80 hours of sick leave and an additional 10 weeks of paid family leave (paid at two-thirds the employee's regular rate) when employees are unable to work because they need to care for a child whose school or child care provider is closed or unavailable for COVID-19-related reasons.
Please note, once an employee has used 80 hours of paid sick leave and an additional 10 weeks of paid family leave they are no longer entitled to the FFCRA paid time away or additional FFCRA paid sick leave. Employees are only entitled to a total of 80 hours of sick leave and 10 weeks family leave thru December 31, 2020.
Regarding Hybrid or Flexible On-site Learning Format, employees may be eligible for FFCRA leave and paid sick leave on those days when they are required to provide at home learning due to mandated school schedules. (Please see note above.)
Employees Choosing At-Home Learning
The big question employees and employers are facing is: Is my employee eligible for FFCRA or unemployment benefits if in-person learning is offered and the employee opts for online learning?
Right now, the answer is fuzzy.
In the case where the employee has the choice to conduct at home learning, forgoing any available in-person classroom training, the DOL has stated that FFCRA leave and unemployment benefits would not be available. We expect to hear more about this issue as the school year continues.
That’s all our Straight HR Talk for now.