that might be more strin-
gent than your state's
reopening guidelines.
• Leave requests.
Healthcare facilities are
exempt from the Families
First Coronavirus Response
Act (FFCRA), which allows
employers to provide up to
12 weeks of paid leave for
workers affected by the
pandemic. You must there-
fore use your own discretion to provide paid leave for employees who
are sick with the coronavirus and are under a state quarantine order,
who have kids home from school that need to be watched, or who
must take care of a loved one who has COVID-19. I strongly believe
these situations are going to be ripe for lawsuits. Document your rea-
sons for granting, or not granting, leave to employees who request it.
Make sure to pay employees who are granted leave every dollar to
which they're entitled. The last thing you want to deal with is a wage-
and-hour violation — when you're trying to do the right thing by your
employees — because you've miscalculated the amount of paid leave
they should receive.
If you have immunocompromised employees, try to find accommo-
dations for them to temporarily work at home to avoid Americans
with Disabilities Act lawsuits.
• Discriminatory allegations. When determining whether to allow
someone to take paid time off, it's critical to apply the same standards
for approving or denying leave requests fairly for all employees. You'll
expose your facility to potential age or race discrimination lawsuits if
J U N E 2 0 2 0 • O U T P A T I E N T S U R G E R Y . N E T • 2 9
HELP YOURSELF Document the steps you take to give staff every opportu-
nity to practice proper hand hygiene.
