Portable Sanitation Association International

ASSOCIATIONINSIGHT Portable Sanitation Association International News BIWEEKLY EDITION JUNE 24, 2020 Page 8 What You Should Know about COVID-19, ADA, and EEO Laws…continued from page 7 Continued on page 9 4. Does the ADA allow employers to require employees to stay home if they have symptoms of the COVID-19? Yes. The CDC states that employees who become ill with symptoms of COVID-19 should leave the workplace. 5. When employees return to work after a case of COVID-19, can employers require a doctor's note? Yes. Such inquiries are permitted. As a practical matter, however, doctors and other health care professionals may be too busy during and immediately after a pandemic outbreak to provide fitness-for-duty documentation. Therefore, new approaches may be necessary, such as reliance on local clinics to provide a form, a stamp, or an e-mail to certify that an individual does not have the pandemic virus. 6. May an employer administer a COVID-19 test (a test to detect the presence of the COVID-19 virus) before permitting employees to enter the workplace? The answer to this question depends on the type of test and the reason for administering it. The ADA requires that any mandatory medical test of employees be "job related and consistent with business necessity." Applying this standard to the current circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, employers may take steps to determine if employees entering the workplace have COVID-19 because an individual with the virus will pose a direct threat to the health of others. Therefore an employer may choose to administer COVID-19 testing to employees before they enter the workplace to determine if they have the virus. The EEOC says that: » A viral test to determine the presence of an active case of the virus is allowed. » Tests that detect antibodies are not allowed. In light of CDC Interim Guidelines stating antibody test results "should not be used to make decisions about returning persons to the workplace," the EEOC released guidance on June 17, 2020 indicating that employers should not require antibody tests before permitting employees to return to the workplace. Based on guidance from medical and public health authorities, employers should still require—to the greatest extent possible—that employees observe infection control practices (such as social distancing, regular hand washing, and other measures) in the workplace to prevent transmission of COVID-19. Confidentiality of Medical Information 1. May an employer store in existing medical files information it obtains related to COVID-19, including the results of taking an employee's temperature or the employee's self-identification as having this disease? All medical information about a particular employee must be stored separately from the employee's personnel file, thus limiting access to this confidential information. An employer may store all medical information related to COVID-19 in existing medical files.

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