Hartford Business Journal

12 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | OCTOBER 16, 2023 Dr. Mitch McClure is the chief medical officer at New Britain toolmaker Stanley Black & Decker, which is encouraging employees to take more direct control over COVID precautions. HBJ PHOTO | STEVE LASCHEVER Health Check With COVID-19 emergency orders lifted, employers seek guidance on workplace precautions By Michael Puffer mpuffer@hartfordbusiness.com W hen Connecticut saw a jump in COVID-19 cases in September, Abby M. Warren, a partner at law firm Robinson+Cole, started to get a trickle of calls from employers interested in policy recommenda- tions for staff who get exposed to the virus. Warren, an employ- ment lawyer, is expecting those inquiries to increase in the coming weeks and months, as colder, drier weather and holiday gatherings bring on the traditional respiratory virus season and a rise in COVID infections. With state and federal emergency COVID-19 declarations in the rear- view mirror — they were lifted in the spring — Warren and other experts say not only are mask and vaccina- tion mandates out, but so are work- place policies seen as intruding on personal liberties, such as mandatory temperature checks and repeated questioning about potential exposure. As a replacement, employment lawyers and many companies are recommending policies that require common-sense precautions, like telling workers to avoid the workplace when ill. Now is an especially good time of year for employers to update their illness policies and remind employees of expectations, Warren said. "Even if there is not a policy, employers should be sending out a message about cold and flu season and their expectations," Warren said. "Or else, someone gets a cold, and they don't know. Or, they assume it's just a cold and they come in." Under the pandemic emergency declarations, employers could more easily perform temperature checks and regularly ask COVID-19 exposure screening questions, Warren said. "And now we are back to the stan- dard where it has to be supported by business necessity because that is a medical exam and medical exams are regulated under the Americans with Disabilities Act and a few other laws," Warren said. CDC guidance Susan Huntington, chair of law firm Day Pitney's healthcare practice and a certified physician's assistant, said her clients, largely health- care providers, are no longer requiring follow-up COVID-19 booster shots. That's a significant change compared to January 2022, when Gov. Ned Lamont signed an executive order that required employees of all long- term care facilities and state hospitals in Connecticut to receive COVID-19 boosters. The Connecticut Hospital Association at that time also imple- mented a similar mandatory booster shot requirement for all hospital and health system employees. Now, Huntington's clients are predominantly concerned about how to react when an employee tests posi- tive, or exhibits COVID-19 symptoms. Huntington said her policy recom- mendations are based on the latest guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC recommends people who test positive for COVID-19 isolate at home for at least five days and then wear a high-quality mask when in public for an additional five days. Huntington also recommends employers require masks for staff with respiratory ailment symptoms, even if they test negative for COVID. "Employers still have an obligation to provide a safe work environ- ment under (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) rules," Huntington said. "And you wouldn't think you would have to tell someone not to come into the office if they're coughing, sneezing or have stom- ach-bug symptoms. But people do." Employees bear more responsibility New Britain-based manufacturer Stanley Black & Decker, which has 50,000 employees worldwide, launched an internal campaign this summer aimed at encouraging employees to take more direct control over COVID precautions through common-sense actions. Stanley's "Our People, Our Health" campaign used posters and other communication to urge employees to stay home when sick and take other measures recommended by the CDC to keep colleagues safe. "There could be incentives to come to work sick, and we didn't want to have them," said Dr. Mitch McClure, Stanley's chief medical officer. The idea is also to step away from mandates and intrusive questions about COVID testing, travel and other topics that aren't as justifiable now as they were before the end of the emer- gency declaration, McClure said. "Now, the onus is really on you to self-identify because we don't want to be inappropriate," McClure said. "We don't want to be asking people about their personal health infor- mation because that's not our place once the (emergency) authorization has ended." Drew Andrews, managing partner and CEO of Hartford-based accounting and consulting firm Whittlesey, said he sees little need to update COVID policies because most of his roughly 150 employees continue to opt to work remotely. "I haven't had to deal with it because I have to go looking hard to find people," Andrews joked. "It's like social distancing is here because I don't have anyone here. There is no reason to add extra layers of compliance to people and give them a hard time." Abby M. Warren Susan Huntington U.S. COVID-19-related hospitalizations and deaths Week ending New hospitalizations Deaths Sept. 30, 2023 18,139 1,029 Aug. 26, 2023 17,487 1,009 July 29, 2023 9,091 533 June 24, 2023 6,319 572 May 27, 2023 7,847 735 Source: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

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