As the COVID-19 pandemic continues and businesses reopen under restrictions which vary by city, county, and state, Affinity HR Group continues to monitor several topics and issues to help our clients through these confusing times. Below are some of the current topics we are seeing.<\/p>\n
Employer COVID Liability<\/strong>: Employees being in the workplace increases their exposure to COVID-19 which means they may be able to make an unsafe workplace claim or a claim against your Workers\u2019 Comp policy, for example. To help mitigate some of that liability, take all possible safety measures to reduce the employees\u2019 risk of exposure.<\/p>\n While some states have passed legislation to help protect employers, this legislation will not provide blanket immunity as companies must comply with certain criteria such as following COVID-19 safety precautions for coverage.<\/p>\n Some companies are requiring employees to sign liability waivers, but these do little to reduce legal exposure if challenged. Conversely, it may indicate to your employees that you do not have confidence in your safety measures which may make employees more concerned about coming to work.<\/p>\n Mask mandates:<\/strong> If you have a mask-wearing mandate for employees and visitors, whether due to state regulations or company safety practices, enforce those requirements consistently for the health and safety of your employees and customers. Also, give your employees the support when refusing to deal with a customer without a mask.<\/p>\n Vacation \/ Paid Time Off:<\/strong> Some employees may want to start using their PTO, requiring you to ensure you have control of several aspects.<\/p>\n Confirm your policies allow you to control who is taking time (usually through an approval process) to ensure proper coverage at all times. Do not use only first-come, first-served or seniority as reasons for approval; include reason for time off as some employees will need time off for critical events such as weddings, funerals, and taking their child to college.<\/p>\n Consider implementing temporary carryover or payout policies so employees do not have to choose between taking unwanted time off and losing their benefits.<\/p>\n We recommend not requiring employees to exhaust all of their PTO, especially if all of the FFCRA time has been exhausted, so they have time available if they become sick later in the year.<\/p>\n Travel<\/strong>: As states reopen, employees may begin to travel, increasing their chance of exposure. Traveling may necessitate the employee to self-quarantine and\/or get tested. If an employee is planning to travel, discuss the repercussions such as use of paid time off, quarantine period, testing, etc. prior to departure so they know the expectations before they leave.<\/p>\n If traveling for work, consider the true need or value of the travel and postpone if possible. You will need to pay their regular wages for any quarantine time, and, if they are exposed, it will most likely fall under your Workers\u2019 Comp.<\/p>\n If traveling for vacation, decide ahead of time if you will require the employee to stay away from the office, to get tested, and, if \/ how all this time will be paid.<\/p>\n Back-to-school \/ summer camp:<\/strong> Employees may not have child care options if summer camp or child care is not available, and this may not improve if schools cannot reopen full-time in the fall. Communicate with employees to create a plan of action such as intermittent schedules, shorter days, or working weekends.<\/p>\n For employees who have time available, FFCRA \/ extended FMLA continues for up to 12 weeks but, if the closed child care provider changes (i.e., school to summer camp to school), require the employee to submit a new FFCRA request form with documentation of that closure.<\/p>\n Screening \/ Testing<\/strong>: There are several options for screening and\/or testing employees before returning to work and\/or before each shift.<\/p>\n Our Recommendations:<\/strong><\/p>\n We are always monitoring the current situation to share the latest information with you. But, since every company\u2019s situation is different, please reach out to Affinity HR Group so we can help you navigate your specific issues.<\/p>\n By Paige McAllister, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, Vice President HR Compliance \u2013 Affinity HR Group, Inc.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As the COVID-19 pandemic continues and businesses reopen under restrictions which vary by city, county, and state, Affinity HR Group continues to monitor several topics and issues to help our clients through these confusing times. Below are some of the current topics we are seeing. Employer COVID Liability: Employees being in the workplace increases their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10105,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46,1],"tags":[31,17,12,33],"class_list":["post-8446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-46","category-uncategorized","tag-covid-19","tag-employment-policy","tag-paige-mcallister","tag-workplace-response"],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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