Employee Safety: Is temperature checking legal?
Recent guidance has come from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and local authorities allowing employers to ask their employees about current symptoms as it relates to COVID-19. Under normal circumstances, an employer would not be able to ask an employee about symptoms related to an illness or disability. It probably goes without saying, but these are not normal times.
One of the key indicators of the virus is a temperature read above 100.4. We are seeing a trend among essential service providers to track daily temperature readings of key personnel that are still reporting to the work site. Some are mandating a temperature check point for all employees when reporting to work and at different points throughout their shift, while others are requiring self-monitoring and self-reporting to their employer each day.
While this is an evolving situation, requiring some level of body temperature monitoring is a sound practice to keep your workplace safe for key people performing essential services. To implement a new policy such as this, have the requirements clearly documented, communicate the policy to all affected employees and implement and enforce it universally. You should also have your policy reviewed by a professional.
Additional guidance can be found here: