Ebola Concerns Invade the Workplace

Howard Mavity was quoted in Reno Gazette-Journal (Nevada) on October 16, 2014. The article “Ebola Concerns Invade the Workplace” discussed how employers are grappling with how to manage workplace concerns about the virus.

Howard was quoted on the rising concerns of employers regarding employees who have returned from main areas in West Africa affected by Ebola.

Howard said he has received a flurry of calls from clients with employees who have returned from personal, rather than work-related, trips to Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, the countries hardest hit by the Ebola virus.

"I've had over 25 different inquiries in under 24 hours," Howard said. "The most common question is, 'Can I ... tell them to stay home for 21 days?' And what I'm recommending is no."

Doing so could set the employer up for a complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, said Howard. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention "is not saying it's so dangerous you should exclude someone who's just returned, and if the employer does that it's likely they're violating the law," he said.

"There are legal protections for people who choose to refuse," Howard noted.