Jennifer Barna, Senior Counsel in the Employment, Labor & Workforce Management and Litigation practices, in the firm’s Newark office, was quoted in SHRM, in “What Should Employers Do When a Worker Tests Positive for COVID-19?” by Allen Smith.

Following is an excerpt:

Employers with workers who test positive for COVID-19 should follow guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), including its guidelines on quarantining and isolation, to minimize safety and legal risks, even though the guidance is somewhat complex. …

Continue Screening

"It is a good idea for employers to continue asking screening questions when employees come to the workplace in order to show that the employer is doing what it can to ensure that employees who recently tested positive or who have symptoms do not come to the workplace," said Jennifer Stefanick Barna, an attorney with Epstein Becker & Green in Newark, N.J.

In guidance, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) states that employers may ask all employees entering the workplace if they have been diagnosed with or tested for COVID-19.

"An employer may exclude those with COVID-19, or symptoms associated with COVID-19, from the workplace because … their presence would pose a direct threat to the health or safety of others," the guidance provides. "For those employees who are teleworking and are not physically interacting with co-workers or others—for example, customers—the employer would generally not be permitted to ask these questions."

More Like This

Jump to Page

Privacy Preference Center

When you visit any website, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. This information might be about you, your preferences or your device and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to. The information does not usually directly identify you, but it can give you a more personalized web experience. Because we respect your right to privacy, you can choose not to allow some types of cookies. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings. However, blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information.

Performance Cookies

These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.