When you’re starting to drown between employee concerns, payroll duties and helping your CEO -- HR Insider is there to help get the logistical work out of the way.
Need a policy because of a recent regulatory change? We’ve got it for you. Need some quick training on a specific HR topic? We’ve got it for you. HR Insider provides the resources you need to craft, implement and monitor policies with confidence. Our team of experts (which includes lawyers, analysts and HR professionals) keep track of complex legislation, pending changes, new interpretations and evolving case law to provide you with the policies and procedures to keep you ahead of problems. FIND OUT MORE...
Can You Require an Employee Exhibiting COVID-19 Symptoms to Self-Isolate for 14-days?

Having COVID-19 symptoms is enough to send employees home for the day but not for 14 days.

QUESTION

Can we require an employee who is exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms to self-isolate for 14 days even though she wasn’t tested for COVID-19?

ANSWER

No. Under current public health guidelines, symptoms are not enough; you need a positive test or other confirmation of infection to make an employee go into self-isolation.

EXPLANATION

What you can and should do is require the employee to go home and strongly urge her to get tested right away. Technically, you can’t require her to get tested. However, if she shows up the next day and still has symptoms, you can again send her home and advise her to get tested. And do the same thing the next day and the day after that and so on until either one of 2 things happen:

  • The symptoms resolve; or
  • She tests positive, in which case, you can require her to go into self-isolation.