Fact check: What to know about COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act and other EEOC laws

Q: What can an employer ask when an employee calls in sick? Are rules different regarding COVID-19?

A: During a pandemic, employers covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act may ask employees if they are experiencing symptoms of the pandemic virus. For COVID-19, these include symptoms such as fever, chills, cough, shortness of breath or sore throat. Employers must maintain all information about employee illness as a confidential medical record in compliance with the ADA.

Q: Can employers screen employees for COVID-19 when they enter the workplace?

A: An employer can only ask employees about COVID-19 symptoms but employees should know that the list of associated symptoms can be expanded, based on recommendations from public health authorities. Employers can also ask to check an employee’s temperature but should know that a high temperature isn’t necessarily indicative of COVID-19.

Q: Can my employer ask me to stay home if I have COVID-19 symptoms?

A: Yes. The CDC states that employees who become ill with symptoms of COVID19 should leave the workplace. The ADA does not interfere with employers following this advice.

Q: Can my employer request a note from my doctor when I return to the workplace?

A: Yes. Such inquiries are permitted under the ADA either because they would not be disability-related or, if the pandemic were truly severe, they would be justified under the ADA standards for disabilityrelated inquiries of employees. As a practical matter, however, doctors and other health care professionals may be too busy during and immediately after a pandemic outbreak to provide fitness-for-duty documentation. Therefore, new approaches may be necessary, such as reliance on local clinics to provide a form, a stamp, or an e-mail.

Q: May a manager single out and select only one employee — as opposed to asking all employees — questions designed to determine if he or she has COVID-19, or require that this employee alone have his or her temperature taken or undergo other screening or testing?

A: If an employer wishes to ask only a particular employee to answer such questions, or to have their temperature taken or undergo other screening or testing, the ADA requires the employer to have a reasonable belief based on objective evidence that this person might have the disease.

Q: May an employer ask an employee who is physically coming into the workplace whether they have family members who have symptoms associated with COVID-19?

A: No. The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) prohibits employers from asking employees medical questions about family members. GINA, however, does not prohibit an employer from asking employees whether they have had contact with anyone diagnosed with COVID-19 or who may have symptoms associated with the disease.

Q: What may an employer do under the ADA if an employee refuses to permit the employer to take his temperature or refuses to answer questions about whether he has COVID-19, has symptoms associated with COVID-19 or has been tested for COVID-19?

A: Under the circumstances existing currently, the ADA allows an employer to bar an employee from physical presence in the workplace if they refuse to have their temperature taken or refuse to answer questions about whether they have COVID19, have symptoms associated with COVID19, or have been tested for COVID-19. To gain the cooperation of employees, however, employers may wish to ask the reasons for the employee’s refusal.

Source: U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission