Michigan Issues Order on Workplace COViD-19 Cases

Thursday, August 13, 2020

On Friday, August 7, 2020, Governor Gretchen Whitmer issued Govt Order 2020-166, Defending employees who keep residence, keep protected after they or their shut contacts are sick – Rescission of Govt order 2020-36. This is a crucial Order as a result of it may change the protocol for employers coping with instances of constructive COVID instances in workplaces in Michigan. Though this Order addresses lots of the identical points as among the Governor’s prior government orders (prohibiting employers from discharging, disciplining or retaliating towards workers who make accountable decisions to remain residence after they or their shut contacts are sick), it offers new steerage on two particular eventualities described under. As well as, Order displays newer steerage from the CDC on the right interval of self-quarantine after a prognosis of COVID-19 or onset of COVID signs.

The Order expressly addresses two eventualities:

Worker exams constructive for COVID-19 or worker shows a number of major signs of COVID-19, ought to self-quarantine till:

24 hours have handed since decision of fever;

10 days have handed since signs first appeared or because the date of the constructive COVID-19 check consequence; AND

Different signs have improved.

Observe there isn’t any provision for a “unfavorable check” on this state of affairs, as there was within the prior Order EO 2020-36.

Worker was in “shut contact” with somebody who exams constructive for COVID-19 or with a person who has principal signs of COVID-19, ought to self-quarantine till:

This raises the difficulty of what occurs when an worker has been in shut contact with a co-worker who has a number of signs (e.g., worker experiences that he/she has had a fever). In such case, the advice has been to require these different workers in shut contact with the symptomatic worker to quarantine for 14 days or till the symptomatic worker receives a unfavorable COVID-19 check.

A difficult state of affairs is for a similar symptomatic worker (e.g., worker experiences that he/she has had a fever). The Order means that the worker stay on quarantine for 10 days after the fever goes away. Nonetheless, if the worker obtains a rapid-COVID-19 check and it comes again unfavorable, an argument could also be made that the worker could possibly be permitted to return to work earlier than 10 days have elapsed. Employers want to contemplate the danger related to a choice to return an worker to work below that state of affairs, in gentle of the Order. As well as, it ought to be famous that, sure Michigan enterprise teams, together with the Small Enterprise Affiliation of Michigan (SBAM), have requested the Governor’s Workplace for clarification of the scope of EO 2020-166, which is inflicting confusion among the many enterprise group.