Firms Consider COVID Waivers before Bringing Workers Back Onsite
As employers make plans to bring their employees back to the workplace in the fall, questions over liability and responsibility are leading some to require workers to sign waivers or acknowledgments concerning COVID-19. However, experts question whether these documents may be necessary, advisable or even enforceable.
[...]
While employees who refuse to sign a waiver of their company’s liability may have grounds to challenge their employer, those who refuse to sign an acknowledgment of new office protocols based on federal and state guidance to protect others and themselves from COVID-19 may be justifiably eliminated from the job site, said Susan Bickley, chair of the Houston office of Blank Rome LLP.
“If it’s an acknowledgment of, ‘Here are the protocols we have in place, please sign with respect to the fact that you’ve seen the information and agree to comply,’ and you have someone who is affirmatively stating that they will not agree to them — I think that’s grounds for not allowing them into your workplace,” she said.
[...]
In a survey of 150 business executives in July by Blank Rome, about 8% said they will mandate that employees sign waivers before returning to the workplace.
“I think most employers, as the survey suggests, have concluded that it frankly just sends the wrong message to their employees,” Ms. Bickley said. “I think it introduces an adversarial component into the employment relationship. Particularly at this time, you have to question whether it’s a wise idea.”
“Firms Consider COVID Waivers before Bringing Workers Back Onsite,” by Angela Childers was published in Business Insurance on August 5, 2020.
