EEOC Updates COVID-19 Screening Guidelines

EEOC Updates COVID-19 Screening Guidelines

Legal Alert Equal Employment

July 25, 2022

Employers beware: the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has significantly altered its guidance concerning when an employer may screen its workforce for COVID-19 reasons.

At the start of the COVID pandemic, the EEOC maintained the pandemic alone provided sufficient justification to test employees for COVID symptoms before allowing entry into the workplace. Now, two long years later, the EEOC has changed its tune. Employers may now only screen employees for COVID if doing so is “job-related and consistent with business necessity.”

The upshot? When evaluating whether to test for COVID, consider the following:

  • Are your employees fully vaccinated?
  • Is your workplace spread out? What would likely happen if an employee came to work with COVID?
  • What’s the current COVID transmission rate in your area?
  • What type of variant is most common in your area? How transmittable is that variant?
  • Does the nature of your work environment increase the risk of contracting COVID at work or transmitting the virus to others (i.e., do your employees regularly interact with co-workers, the elderly, or the medically vulnerable)?

The takeaway: if you have not updated your workplace COVID guidance in a while, then it’s time to take a second look to ensure compliance with the changing EEOC legal landscape.

The attorneys at Farhang & Medcoff are here to help our clients navigate these seemingly endless twists and turns. If you are an employer and have questions about how this new EEOC guidance may affect your business, or any other legal queries, contact us at (520) 214-2000.

This writing is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is formed by the dissemination of this writing.

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