Today, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) posted an updated technical assistance document, “What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws (WYSK),” which incorporates information from other agency resources and modifies two existing Q&As in order to create a user-friendly comprehensive guide that addresses common questions about COVID-19 and federal equal employment opportunity laws for employers, advocates, and workers. The updated WYSK adds 18 questions and answers that have been adapted from two other EEOC technical assistance resources: “Pandemic Preparedness in the Workplace and the Americans with Disabilities Act” and a March 27, 2020 publicly available EEOC webinar.
These newly incorporated Q&As are identified on the WYSK with a parenthetical that lists today’s date and provides the source from which it was adapted. In addition, the EEOC updated two existing WYSK Q&As in order to provide helpful clarifications that reinforce prior EEOC statements about COVID-19 and the EEO laws. First, in the updated “A.6.,” the EEOC more fully explains its existing position about employers administering COVID-19 tests before permitting employees to enter the workplace. Second, in the updated “D.8.,” the EEOC clarifies its existing position on employers’ authority to invite employees not currently in the workplace to request disability accommodation in advance of their expected return if they choose to do so.
