What to Do When Off-Duty Employees Aren’t Social Distancing

Lindsay Burke and Carolyn Rashby spoke with SHRM about the actions employers can take when employees are not social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ms. Burke says, “Disciplining an employee for not wearing a mask while off duty or, for example, attending large events could violate these laws. But if a jurisdiction with an off-duty law has an executive order or health order requiring the wearing of masks or prohibiting large gatherings, then not wearing a mask or attending a large gathering could in fact be considered unlawful conduct and off-duty protections probably would not apply.”

Ms. Rashby says, “It's not going to be appropriate to impose discipline if an employee was seen in one picture not wearing a mask in a small group outdoors. It could be that the employee just took off the mask for a few minutes. On the other end of the spectrum, imposing a quarantine or taking disciplinary action might be warranted if an employee willfully attended multiple large indoor gatherings and refused to wear a face mask each time.”