Additional Requirements for Businesses

As we noted in our blog yesterday, on November 23, 2020, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf announced a series of measurers in response to the growing number of COVID-19 cases in the Commonwealth. Our prior blog focused on the potential teleworking issues presented with the new Order. The Order, however, is not limited to merely imposing new teleworking requirements on businesses, but adds additional mandates on employers commencing on November 27, 2020 at 12:01 a.m.

In this regard, as part of the “mitigation measures” stated in the Order, employers must implement temperature screening before employees enter the business and send employees home that have an elevated temperature. Previously, employers were required to implement such temperature screening measures only if COVID exposure occurred in the workplace. Based on this mandate, employers must implement procedures to temperature screen employees which include protocols for who will take the temperatures of employees, where such screenings will occur and what will be done with any records associated with the screening mechanism.

Additionally, the Order states that any employee who is a close contact of a person diagnosed with or who tests positive for COVID-19 may not continue to work at an in-person business and must quarantine in accordance with the direction of the Pennsylvania Department of Health or local health department. The current requirements provided by the Department of Health state that a fourteen-day quarantine is required and a negative test does not release the person from quarantine. Employers may need to alter their procedures based upon this new Order from the Governor.

For questions about this or any other labor and employment law topic, please do not hesitate to contact the attorneys at Hoffman & Hlavac. To stay updated on the key developments that affect your workplace, be sure to subscribe to our blog and follow us on social media.