A federal court in New York recently struck down four federal Department of Labor rules related to the leaves provided by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). As a result, certain aspects of the FFCRA are now more favorable to employees. Unfortunately, it’s not clear if the ruling applies nationwide or only in the Southern District of New York, where the court is located. Until there is further activity in the case—which may clarify whether the rules remain intact throughout the rest of the country—we recommend that employers err on the side of caution when administering FFCRA leaves and assume these particular rules no longer apply.

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The spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) has employers rightly concerned about how to handle threats of contagion in the workplace. Along with those worries come concerns about violating other laws in the process of trying to keep the workplace safe. Specifically, the ADA comes to mind; if we send someone home who appears sick, have we then discriminated against someone with a disability? Thankfully, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has answered a number of common questions that employers are asking. Additional EEOC guidance can be found here. 

With various shelter in place restrictions being lifted and companies starting to get back to business, one of the questions we’ve received is: how do we bring furloughed employees back to work?

It is important to plan ahead to ensure their employees can safely return to the office. While we are all hoping things will get back to normal as soon as possible, our return to the workplace will be different from our norm.

Here are our top six tips to help you plan to reopen your office.

Below are answers to a couple of questions you might have about returning to work during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Can we screen employees returning to work for COVID-19?

Yes. Generally, inquiries about an employee’s health or a medical exam (like a temperature check) would not be allowed, but the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has stated that screening employees for symptoms of COVID-19 is allowed since it is a direct threat to others in the workplace. Because of that, you may inquire about symptoms related to the virus, require self-reporting by employees, and take employees’ temperatures. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on everyone’s mental health. People have experienced financial hardship, additional challenges with childcare and school cancellations, job loss, reduced hours, sickness, and grief. The future is uncertain, and the present is extra stressful. And to make matters worse, many of the networks and practices that people use to support their mental health are currently unavailable due to social distancing.