Today’s TAG Q&A – Practical Considerations for Employee Travel.

 

Q. I have employees who are taking vacations in other states where COVID-19 seems to be at higher risk. Do I need to have these workers quarantine for another 14 days after return to keep other employees safe?

 

A. With many employees having planned summer vacations, TAG has received questions from  many clients. How to safely manage employee vacations has become particularly critical as many areas are seeing increases in coronavirus cases, and employers are concerned about returning workers bringing infections back with them, but also concerned about the impacts of asking employees to  potentially quarantine for 14 days after returning from vacation.

 

To balance these concerns, TAG suggests employers determine the travel associated risks, and then consider a return-to-work test-based strategy modeled off the CDC test-based option for critical infrastructure workers. While CDC’s current recommendations don’t specifically apply to travel, the science behind the recommendations is similar and this modified strategy would include:

• A baseline test upon returning from vacation and a second test three days later.  The employee would stay out until negative results are received from both tests.

 

• Individuals who remain asymptomatic and have negative tests at baseline and Day 3 can return to work once results are attained.

• This strategy would be especially applicable if someone is traveling by commercial air because the risk of exposures in airports and onboard aircraft could be high. 

• This strategy could also be applied for employees conducting essential business travel and is not limited only to vacation leave.

 

If you need assistance or have other questions, give TAG a call today.