What to Include in Travel and Visitor Policies

As companies start to return to work, there are a number of considerations that must be taken into account, including how you will manage employee business travel and visitors to your facility. Changing HR policies is the clear first step to re-opening, but many businesses are unsure what to include. Here is some recommended language to use as you write new or update existing policies and communicate them to employees.

Business Travel Policy Addendum

All nonessential business travel will be suspended until further notice. This includes all in-person meetings, locally, domestically and internationally. Employees who travel as an essential part of their job should consult with management on appropriate actions. Business-related travel outside the United States will not be authorized until further notice.

Employees should avoid crowded public transportation when possible. Alternative scheduling options, ride-share resources and/or parking assistance will be provided on a case-by-case basis. Contact human resources for more information.

Employee Personal Travel Reporting Guidelines

• As an additional precaution to ensure the health of our staff, we strongly encourage employees to avoid any personal travel outside of the United States during this time
• The CDC has set restrictions on entry to the U.S. for travelers returning from certain countries under a Level 3 Travel Health Notice. Everyone is responsible for checking the CDC website to see if their travel destination has been added to this list: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/map-and-travel-notices.html
• If an employee decides to travel to or through a restricted country (even if the aircraft was not exited), the employee must notify their manager of their specific travel plans, and the employee will be required to self-quarantine for 14 days upon their return to the U.S.
• In any case, the employee must be cleared by their manager before returning to work after the quarantine period has been completed

Workplace Visitors Policy

No visitors are allowed in our workplace or on company property unless authorized by a department manager. All requests for permission for nonemployees to enter company property must be made at the front office and a visitor’s screening form must be completed along with a temperature check.

Employees who wish to visit the workplace for any reason during hours or shifts when they are not assigned to work must also have the permission of a department manager. Applications for such visits must be made at the front office.

Visitors must wear a visitor’s pass on their jacket or shirt pocket so as to display that the individual is an authorized visitor. Supervisors are to challenge strangers who do not display the visitor’s pass to determine their authority for access to our facility. Unauthorized visitors should be escorted courteously but quickly from the workplace or to the front office.

Interim Update Regarding Safety and Personal Accommodations for At-risk Staff

There are many conditions, physical and mental, that could put someone at higher risk of severe illness, however, an employer cannot exclude — or take any other adverse action against — an employee solely because he/she falls within the CDC identified high-risk category. Instead, the employer must engage in the interactive process to eliminate or reduce the risk so that the employee can return to the workplace and perform his/her essential functions. Workplace accommodations could include:

• Enhanced protective gowns and/or other protective gear (masks, gloves, etc.) that go beyond what the employer may generally provide to its employees in the workplace
• Enhanced protective measures (i.e., erecting barriers, increasing the space between the high-risk employee and others/the public)
• Elimination or substitution of some less critical or incidental job duties (i.e., non-essential duties)
• Temporary modification of work schedules that will decrease contact with coworkers and/or the public when working or commuting, or moving the employee’s workstation (i.e., end of the production line instead of the middle)

If no workplace accommodation can reduce or eliminate the direct threat, then the employer must consider accommodation such as work from home, leave or reassignment.

July 07, 2020