CDC Interim Guidance Enables Essential Workers to Continue Working After Potential Exposure to COVID-19

Under the guidelines, “critical infrastructure workers” are those who work in 16 different sectors. A graphic identifying those sectors can be found here. The sectors include, but are not limited to:

• • Federal, state, & local law enforcement.
  • 911 call center employees.
  • Fusion Center employees.
  • Hazardous material responders from the government and the private sector.
  • Janitorial staff and other custodial staff.
  • Workers – including contracted vendors – in food and agriculture, critical manufacturing, informational technology, transportation, energy and government facilities.

A potential exposure is a household contact or having close contact (within six feet) with an individual with con­firmed or suspected COVID-19, when that contact occurred as early as 48 hours before the individual became symptomatic or while the employee was symptomatic.

If a critical worker had this contact but remains asymptomatic:

The employee may remain at work provided the following precautions are implemented prior to and/or during the work shift:

• • Prior to the work shift and, ideally, before the employee enters the workplace, employers take the employee’s temperature and “assess” whether the employee is having symptoms.
  • Assuming the employee is asymptomatic, the employee self-monitors her/his health under the supervision of the employer’s occupational health program.
  • For 14 days following the last exposure, the employee wears a face mask at all times when in the workplace.
  • The employee practices social distancing and remains six feet from others as much as possible.
  • The employer routinely cleans and disinfects workspaces, bathrooms, common areas, and shared electronics.

The CDC also offers additional suggested actions that employers may want to consider, including:

• • Not allowing employees to share headsets or other objects that are near the mouth or nose.
  • Increasing the frequency of cleaning commonly touched surfaces.
  • “Pilot testing the use of face masks to ensure they do not interfere with work assignments.”
  • Increasing “air exchanges” in the workplace.
  • Staggering break times to ensure employees are practicing social distancing.
  • Not allowing the sharing of food or utensils.

If the employee exhibits symptoms:

The employee should be sent home immediately, surfaces at the workplace should be cleaned and disinfected, and the employer should gather information on the individuals with whom the now symptomatic employee came within six feet within two days prior to and while the employee was exhibiting symptoms.

The foregoing Interim Guidance from the CDC can be helpful to employers of essential workers when determining if they should allow a potentially asymptomatic exposed employee to continue to work. That said, the CDC’s website directs the public to the Department of Homeland Security’s CISA website concerning critical infrastructure employees. On that CISA website, the government recognizes that different jurisdictions may come to different conclusions regarding when special rules should apply to essential workers based on the prevalence of cases of the virus, the “infrastructure activity” and the assets in the area. Accordingly, employers need to keep abreast of the prescriptive actions their state and local officials require when an employee (whether or not an essential employee) is exposed to a potential or actual case of COVID-19.

The Coronavirus Task Force at Klehr Harrison stands ready to assist you in your business and legal needs. We will continue to provide additional information and guidance as the COVID-19 situation develops.

Author Lee D. Moylan is a partner in the Labor & Employment practice group at Klehr Harrison.