Coronavirus in the Workplace Question
(I just had a phone conversation with an HR peer who has employees in California and she asked this anonymously. - Steve)
I would like to know what other HR professionals are doing when presented with an employee demanding to be able to work from home or stay home due to having a pre-existing health condition that may make them more susceptible to contracting the Coronavirus through workplace/social interaction and they are worried.
Would love to hear your thoughts and approaches.
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We're erring on the side of caution for individuals that are concerned of having a higher risk and are in communities with confirmed cases of community-spread.
We've got employees in California that are afforded the ability to work remote if they have concerns, feel they may have been exposed or are at higher risk, as they are in the Bay Area (which is a higher risk area based on community transmission cases). However, if our employees in Michigan had concerns, we'd be having a deeper discussion considering they aren't a higher risk area with no community transmission cases.
Hope that helps! -
I brought up the same concern to my HR VP and think that we should provide flexibility to employees with serious medical conditions themselves or with family members. If able, work from home. No guidance from our company or my VP yet, but it feels like the right thing to do for those individuals at higher risk who are concerned for their health and safety.
