As many employers contemplate returning remote workers to the workplace, employers need multiple different but complementary approaches to keep them safe.
Basic public health measures
Employers should continue to emphasize basic public health measures to prevent the spread of respiratory disease until the pandemic is over. This means:
Require masks, which have been well demonstrated to decrease the rate of infection after exposure by 75%.
Promote physical distancing: Being closer indoors for longer increases the risk of spread. For many employers, effective distancing means decreasing density of employees as well as imposing capacity limits on indoor spaces.
Improve ventilation, which can also decrease spread when there is a workplace exposure. Some employers are doing this through tweaks to heating and cooling systems or with enhanced filtration.
Vaccinations
Few employers are offering cash incentives for vaccination at this point, and fewer still are mandating vaccination. This could change in coming months, as vaccinations become available to all employees and there are more months of demonstrated safety and effectiveness. Employees in high-risk occupations (hospitals, nursing homes, some food processing plants) are most likely to face mandates, and some states might require vaccination for other types of workers.
Testing
As we move toward vaccinating all willing adults, employers should focus on testing to diminish the risk of workplace spread. Up until now, testing has been implemented by a minority of employers, largely because tests have been expensive, and many tests have required up to three days of processing, making them less useful in preventing workplace spread.
Returning employees to the workplace is neither simple nor easy, but a measured, multi-layered approach makes it possible to keep them safe.