What Businesses Must Disclose When a Worker Is Diagnosed With COVID-19

April 13, 2020

Through private conversations, employers should determine if diagnosed staff reported to work within two weeks of experiencing any coronavirus symptoms, the attorney said. If they were in the workplace during this incubation period, businesses must — at a minimum — alert anyone who may have come within 6 feet of the diagnosed worker about potential exposure, said Ennis, who represents employers. Companies may not mention specific staff members’ names while notifying colleagues that they may have been near someone who tested positive for the virus.

Sharing when the diagnosed worker was last in the building is also wise, according to Domenique Camacho Moran, partner and head of employment law at Farrell Fritz P.C. in Uniondale. Providing dates gives workers a sense of how long to watch for symptoms, which can take up to 14 days to manifest, she said.

“There’s also just the emotional piece of that,” said Moran, who represents employers. “If you have an employee who was last at work on March 28, that gives you a sense of: OK they may have just tested positive, but I already am [a certain number of]  days away from when I was last exposed to them.” That gives employees a sense of when they can breathe a sigh of relief, she said.

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