The Biden administration has issued guidelines for agencies to test their workers for COVID-19, specifying when large-scale testing is appropriate and confirming that federal offices can mandate employee testing.
Federal employees who have the test requirement to enter the workplace and refuse can face the “consequences,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, though he did not specify what they could be like and said all aspects of the policy testing is the responsibility of individual agencies. . The CDC issued the guide in response to an executive order from President Biden, stressing that it consisted of strategies for agencies to consider, rather than political requirements.
The CDC noted that the Americans with Disabilities Act allows employer-imposed testing of workers if it is “related to a job and is in line with business needs,” and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found it acceptable to turn the COVID-19 test into a workplace. a condition for entering the workplace. . Agencies must have the consent of an employee to administer a test and determine in advance any consequences for those who refuse. The CDC encouraged federal agencies to “consider providing alternatives as feasible and appropriate” for employees who disagree with the tests, such as reallocating tasks that can be performed remotely.
Agencies have several options for pursuing a testing strategy. A less aggressive approach would allow them to test only employees who have symptoms or have had a known exposure to someone with COVID-19. Agencies should determine in advance where they will send staff for tests, how they will cover costs, their results reporting plans to local health departments, how they will track contacts, and their modified work plans if an outbreak occurs. Any employee exposed to the workplace should receive a test at a convenient time and place and at no personal cost, the CDC said.
Some federal offices should set up screening tests, which would most likely take place at regular intervals, and use antigen tests with faster results. All employees in a workplace with such a strategy, even those without symptoms or exposures, would be tested. Federal offices should consider the approach if they are located in areas of high community prevalence or without easy access to health care or if their employees have frequent interactions with the public, physical distance is difficult, continuity of operations is particularly critical or their strength work is considered high -risk for severe diseases caused by the virus. Agencies establishing on-site testing capacity should receive a waiver from the Food and Drug Administration.
The CDC stressed that any testing strategy should complement, not replace, existing COVID-19 protocols established by the agencies. The Office of Management and Budget in January issued revised pandemic requirements for agencies, including masked mandates in federal offices and ensuring that they do not exceed 25% capacity in areas with high community prevalence. The General Services Administration has previously issued guidelines for reorganizing federal buildings to make them safer to reopen during the pandemic. A working group set up by Biden to monitor the health and safety of the federal workforce amid the pandemic has instructed agencies to pursue discipline for employees who refuse to wear a mask at work.
The CDC has recommended a broader testing strategy for specific workforces, such as air traffic controllers, those in communal living spaces, such as firefighters, and those most critical of government operations. He noted that the guidance was not intended for federal health care physicians, long-term care institutions or prisons or detention centers. He also declined to comment on how to fund the tests issued by the agency.
Agencies are responsible for providing information to their employees about the tests they administer, including the manufacturer, type, purpose, who pays for it, how they will receive results, and who will see the results. The CDC encouraged agencies to offer flexible, non-punitive sick leave and other “support policies” for all employees required to isolate themselves. Agencies should continue to ask employee screening questions related to their workplace, perform temperature checks, improve ventilation, request masks, and implement physical distance measures.
While the guidelines did not require testing by federal agencies, the CDC noted that an advantage of such an approach would allow them to reduce employee quarantines below the recommended 14 days. Negative tests after exposure would allow employees to return to work faster.
Hundreds of thousands of federal employees tested positive for COVID-19, but providing these tests was sometimes difficult for agencies or workers. The Department of Veterans Affairs had to withdraw a statement last year that any employee who wanted a test could get one after employees across the country challenged it. Like the American public, the federal workforce is increasingly vaccinated against COVID-19. Five federal agencies have received direct dose allocations to vaccinate their employees – and in some cases to help vaccinate other federal workers – and the Biden administration has recently set up a vaccination site in Maryland specifically for federal employees. While agency staff have expressed concern that their agencies have struggled to vaccinate them, all American adults across the country are now eligible to sign up for a vaccine meeting.