How to Determine Whether a COVID-19 Case is Work-Related

HR expert explains what employers need to do if employees have a positive COVID-19 test

COVID-19As COVID-19 cases climb around the nation, many employers are struggling to find a balance between keeping their businesses afloat and their employees safe. Along with putting safeguards into place such as plexiglass barriers and mask mandates for workers and customers, employment experts say that companies also need to have a COVID-19 plan in place for when employees test positive for the novel coronavirus.

“It’s no longer an ‘if’ one of your employees becomes infected, but when,” says Rob Wilson, President of Employco USA, a national employment solutions firm. “Sadly, it’s a given at this point that one of your employees will likely contract the virus at some point in the near future, if they have not already. Your company needs to have a well-thought-out plan for how you’re going to pivot immediately into action when this occurs.”

Wilson says that sanitizing the workplace and informing potentially impacted coworkers and clients is just the beginning. Employers also need to consider whether or not the COVID-19 case can be traced back to the workplace.

“When an employee reports they have COVID-19, employers are faced with the difficult task of determining whether the employee’s illness is work-related,” says Wilson, who has helped many clients to mitigate COVID-19 crises in the workplace.

The HR expert says that OSHA considers an injury or illness to be work-related if an event or exposure in the work environment either caused or contributed to the resulting condition or significantly aggravated a pre-existing injury or illness. Work-relatedness is presumed for events or exposures in the work environment.

“Unfortunately, because the coronavirus is so widespread, determining whether an employee’s illness is work-related can be difficult and should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis,” says Wilson. “Employers should ask comprehensive questions to reveal the potential exposure of COVID-19 in their workplaces, but they should also be careful about what kinds of questions they may ask because HIPAA and other regulations still apply. And, after conducting a review, employers may need to record the incident and report it to OSHA.”

For more on this topic, please contact Rob Wilson at rwilson@thewilsoncompanies.com.