b'Associate News EMPLOYEE RETURNING FROM TRIP- Precautions in Light of COVID-19?continued from page 59signs of a fever, and any other symptoms for at least 24 hours, without the use of fever-reducing or other symptom-altering medicines (e.g. cough suppres-sants). Employees should notify their supervisor and stay home if they are sick.Thus, while there is some legal support for employ-ers that require a fitness for duty statement before an ill employee returns to work, there appears to be none as to employees who are otherwise healthy; and regardless, the agency guidance is consistent in that employers should seek to minimize the burden on the healthcare system in making these types of demands. Of course, the employer has an endur-ing duty to ensure the workplace is safe, healthy and free from hazards (including in cases where employees perform work on client sites). Employees who present a direct threat to themselves or to the workplace, or who have other risk factors (see link above), can and should be required to self-isolate or self-quarantine and additional measures may be necessary to be taken before they can safely resume their duties. That said, we do not recommend that the employer require the subject employee to burden the healthcare system by requiring that she produce a doctors note regarding her fitness to return to work based solely on the fact that she recently traveled, and particularly if she has no up-per respiratory symptoms (see CDC information regarding symptoms) or other risk factors present per the CDCs risk assessment (see previous page).Given the recommendation (and in some cases, the requirement) that individuals practice social distanc-ing, the employer should consider the propriety of continuing to have employees travel to worksites in close quarters in the same vehicle. As advised by the CDC, the employer should instead consider having employees driving individually to work sites and maintain a distance of 6 feet from one another while they are there to best protect the transmis-sion and spread of the virus. The CDCs guidance for employers in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic is particularly helpful and we recommend that you re-ceive it online from the CDCs Interim Guidance for Businesses and Employers to Plan and Respond to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).The COVID-19 pandemic is a fluid situation for all employers, and the landscape is changing constant-ly. We make a wide range of resources, which are frequently updated, available for employers on our website, which you can access through your portal. Published Date: April 17, 2020S60 www.wpma.com / Summer 2020'