John Corcoran 8:08
Yeah. And that relates to another one, which is kind of an unusual situation. But you were hearing that some people are asymptomatic, they don’t have any symptoms. So let’s say someone goes into the workplace, they’re feeling fine, they’re ready to work. They don’t want to be forced to go home. But the employer forces them to go home and forces them to take sick leave, in spite of them not wanting to do it. So what happens in that type of scenario?
Sarah Nichols 8:36
Well, depending on the size of your employer, and where you’re located, even California cities vary. You will be entitled to a certain amount of your pay for a number of weeks, if you are home because you have to take care of someone with a virus or because you’ve been sent home because you have the virus and you’re also entitled to pay sick leave to make up for any gap between the amount the employer pays you and your full compensation. Hmm. Okay,
John Corcoran 9:08
so another question. This is a privacy related question. So I come into work and I’ve got a little bit of a temperature. I’m running a little hot. Can my boss force me to take my temperature? Can they do that?
Sarah Nichols 9:27
That’s a great question. So generally measuring an employee’s body temperature or anything that’s in any way vasive like requiring a urine test or whatever has been very highly regulated and only required if you’re operating heavy machinery or things like that. And it’s defined as a medical examination that just hasn’t been permitted or permitted under very limited circumstances, but based on current CDC guidance, and local health information Employers now can measure your body temperature, just for the limited purpose of evaluating the risk of that employees presence in the workplace and the possibility of evicting others or clients, customers.
John Corcoran 10:15
Well, in the unprecedented times we’re here What about what questions can they ask me? Can they ask me if I got tested for Coronavirus previously? Can they ask me? other personal questions?
Sarah Nichols 10:29
Yes, um, but they have to be very careful with the information that they receive. So, typically, you weren’t able to ask an employee what a disability was, you weren’t able to ask what the medical or health issue was or even why an employee may not have shown up for work. You could get a sick note or a doctor’s note. And the doctor’s note typically wouldn’t reveal what the condition was. But employees in California need to be careful about how they ask. If an employee doesn’t show up or doesn’t report to work, an employer is entitled to ask why the employee hasn’t shown up to work. And typically, in response, an employee is going to provide information, maybe disclosing an illness or disclosing that they had to go get a test. And an employer can’t share that information. It needs to be treated as a confidential medical record. They can then tell others that an employee in the workplace has been infected, but they can’t reveal the name of the employee. So the employer needs to have some respect for privacy, but they can ask questions. Okay,
John Corcoran 11:50
so you mentioned doctor’s notes. So do I as an employee, do I have to provide a doctor’s note to be led back into work if I haven’t been at work? I’ve been forced to go home.
Sarah Nichols 12:02
Well, it used to be that employers could require a doctor’s name. Now, given the pandemic, government entities have realized they don’t want doctors to be flooded with this kind of request, because they want doctors to be doing what they do best, and actually treating patients and not just writing doctor’s notes on mess. So there’s no longer or employers are not allowed to require a doctor’s note. Because there’s an overriding concern or desire that people just aren’t at work and are being punished for not coming to work if that helps reduce the spread of the virus.
John Corcoran 12:39
So I imagine there could be a scenario where the employer is saying I’m not gonna let you back in yet the employees saying I feel fine, let me back in and it’s kind of a standoff between the two of them if they can’t go have a doctor’s note that’s going to help break the logjam, so to speak. What about anxiety and mental health issues? Let’s say that I’m an employee, I get anxious, you know, just being in this workplace right now, there’s a lot of anxiety going around. Can I work from home? Is that something that my employer needs to let me do?
Sarah Nichols 13:14
Well, I’ve had a scenario like this arise, for instance a situation where the employer, whether the employer was a or is a grocery store, and everyone was having to come in and work. And there was this pressure for everyone to be there to work because it feels like letting some work from home and not everyone was fair. And there was one particular individual who had a lot of anxiety and really said I need to work from home. This is an accommodation, it’s possible for me to work from home, and the employer wanted to do the best they could to allow that individual to work from home because the work could be done there. It sort of felt them fair for other people in the workplace, but they still wanted to offer that. But the issue actually had to reduce that person’s hours because it wasn’t going to be possible for them to do all the work they could do if they came in. So it was a compromised situation, allowing that individual to work from home, it was possible for them to do the work from home. But I just wasn’t going to be able to pay them for eight hours a day. Because there was less work for them to do if they weren’t in the office, it was going to be harder for them to communicate everything that needs to be done. So there’s going to be lots of kind of compromise situations, I think.
Unknown Speaker 14:35
Yeah, yeah.
John Corcoran 14:38
You mentioned accommodations. So let’s say I’m an employee and I’m having anxiety or other mental health issues around this. What accommodations doesn’t isn’t employer obligated to provide? You know, do they have to provide some kind of paid or sick leave? Do they have to provide mental health services like Pay for me to talk to a therapist. If that’ll help me, what about support animal? Could I bring a support animal into work with me? I know I’m throwing a lot of different scenarios.
Sarah Nichols 15:11
Well, I don’t think anyone wants additional stresses in the workplace right now. And I’ve done a lot of accommodation kind of questions around support animals. And if your dog doesn’t buy, you know, maybe that’s allowed him but I think I’ve had yapping dogs and pigs and all sorts of situations. And in my videos, someone wanted to bring a dog into a zoo. And that was really not a good idea.
John Corcoran 15:34
A dog into a zoo.
Sarah Nichols 15:37
Certainly depends on the workplace. But I think it really comes down to what is a reasonable accommodation. And some workplaces are going to be able to do certain things and other workplaces are just not like a zoo is not going to be able to have a dog coming to the workplace unless the dog can be in the back pain, but it can’t do it for everyone. So it really depends on What the accommodation is and what the workplace is where the workplace is and what’s going on there. So paid leave is not really typically a reasonable accommodation, but unpaid leave might be, it really depends on the size of the employer. It may and how many employees there are, and whether or not can be possible to provide it to the number of employees that need it, and whether that employer has enough money, and so we’re seeing a lot of employees lay off people and huge numbers, and what that percentage is might be sort of part of that decision making process is how much can we accommodate different people in this time. I also think HR people are under a lot of pressure right now. And so hearing from their employees that they’re stressed, may result in them not necessarily being as patient as they need to be. And they may misinterpret and not understand the mental health needs. have employees that vary, and maybe on sympathetic people who are having to look after their families at home, having to look after people that are high risk, and also have underlying conditions that are more than just regular anxiety or regular stress that we all face, but really serious underlying mental health conditions that people still fail to really understand and have sympathy for.
John Corcoran 17:26
So many different issues that are overlapping affecting one another. All right, the last question I want to ask about is if I discover I do have the virus Coronavirus, and I tell my boss that can they tell other people? That’s one question and then I’ll have a follow up after that.
Sarah Nichols 17:45
So they’re not permitted to tell people and reveal your personal health information. They can’t confirm the health status of employees or communicate about your health but they can reveal That an employee has been infected and therefore we are shutting down our office for cleaning or something like that.
John Corcoran 18:07
Got it? Got it. Yeah. And then the follow up question is, can I be fired? related to that, you know, someone would pin an employer if it hasn’t happened yet it probably will. Could an employee employer fire an employee because they have the virus?
Sarah Nichols 18:26
No, they can’t. It could happen. But if it does, it’s illegal, and you probably have a good claim.
John Corcoran 18:31
Yeah. And related to that, to wrap things up. If you do have a question about these things, the laws are constantly constantly changing and evolving. It varies. What employer you work for, what city you’re in, where can people go to contact you, Sarah to get their personal questions answered.
Sarah Nichols 18:50
So they can contact us by text or by calling (415) 504-30954 or [email protected]. I also just really encourage people to not give up. If they feel like they have an unemployment claim to file that claim, even though they’ve heard that there’s the DDS overwhelmed or no, so many people have filed that they couldn’t get anything. Don’t just sort of put your head in the sand and give up. You’ve paid towards or your players pay towards you being able to get unemployment during times like this. And so, go through the process of applying for unemployment and go through the process of talking to a lawyer. Just because this is happening to a lot of people doesn’t mean that you don’t have the ability to seek out and see if your rights are being violated or get unemployment. Don’t be ashamed of what’s happening.
John Corcoran 19:56
That’s a great point, Sarah, this has been extremely valuable. relevant, timely information. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us.
Sarah Nichols 20:04
So thank you so much.
Outro 20:06
Thank you for listening to the Smart Business Revolution podcast with John Corcoran. Find out more at smartbusinessrevolution.com and while you’re there, sign up for our email list and join the revolution. And be listening for the next episode of the Smart Business Revolution podcast.