A: Sadly, no. Not even close.
As society slowly gets “back to business” employers are working hard to figure out how best to keep employees and their families safe. While employers will have large latitude to implement policies that work best for their specific contexts, the CDC and affiliated state and local agencies have set forth general guidelines. These guidelines all suggest taking daily temperature checks (among other screening activities) – requiring employees to demonstrate that they do not have fever.
The benefit of daily temperature checks: They keep sick people home, regardless of whether they are fighting COVID-19 or a different illness. This has obvious benefits to other employees and their close contacts.
The drawbacks: Given the high prevalence of asymptomatic COVID-19 carriers, lack of fever is a poor proxy for the outcome of greatest interest: Whether an employee has an active COVID-19 infection. Perhaps the biggest drawback is the potential false sense of security that fever screening might inadvertently convey in a workplace.
Also of critical importance: CDC guidelines strongly suggest that daily employee health screenings should be partnered with paid sick leave and other “supportive policies and practices.” Otherwise “gaming” may creep in – with ill employees taking fever reduction medicine prior to the temperature screen in order to preserve their livelihood.
Links:
