Pennsylvania Expands COVID-19 Travel Advisory

On July 2, 2020, Pennsylvania implemented a travel advisory recommending domestic travelers returning from certain states with high numbers of COVID-19 cases to self-quarantine for fourteen (14) days upon returning to the Commonwealth. As we noted, employers have several options available to ensure that employees who have traveled to out-of-state COVID-19 hotspots do not put their co-workers at risk:

  • Pursuant to EEOC guidance, an employer can require employees to successfully pass a COVID-19 test before returning to the workplace.

  • An employer can also require an employee returning from out-of-state travel (or out-of-travel from certain designated states) to self-quarantine for fourteen (14) days pursuant to the CDC’s general recommendations. If the employee is able to work remotely during his period, the employer should require him/her to do so. If, however, the employee’s job duties does not permit him/her to work remotely, the employee can use Emergency Paid Sick Leave (“EPSL”) under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”) or be required to use paid or unpaid time off if he/she is ineligible for leave under the FFCRA or has used his/her FFCRA leave entitlement.

  • At the very least, the employee should be subject to pre-shift temperature screening and symptom assessment for two (2) weeks.

Although the travel advisory only initially covered fifteen (15) states, as of July 24, 2020, it has now been expanded to twenty (20). States are covered by the advisory if testing shows more than 100 new cases per 100,000 residents or a positive rate of 10% or greater over the last seven (7) days. The list of states covered by the advisory, which is updated every Friday, now includes:

  • Alabama

  • Arizona

  • Arkansas

  • California

  • Florida

  • Georgia

  • Idaho

  • Iowa

  • Kansas

  • Louisiana

  • Mississippi

  • Missouri

  • Nevada

  • North Carolina

  • Oklahoma

  • South Carolina

  • Tennessee

  • Texas

  • Utah

  • Wyoming

As this situation continues to develop, employers should be sure to update their pandemic response plans and uniformly enforce whatever policies and procedures they implement to address employees who are returning from travel to states covered by the travel advisory. For questions about this or any other labor and employment issues, please do not hesitate to contact the attorneys at Hoffman & Hlavac.  To stay updated on the key labor and employment law developments that affect your workplace, subscribe to our blog and follow us on social media.

George Hlavac