As Offices Reopen, State Laws Thread Worker Privacy and Safety

Employers preparing to welcome workers back to the office are navigating a hodgepodge of new state employment laws and pending legislation catalyzed by the Covid-19 pandemic as legislators walk the line between maintaining employee safety and privacy.

Hawaii, Montana, and Oregon are among those that passed laws weighing more heavily on the side of maintaining worker privacy during the pandemic. They seek to set guardrails for employers tracking the location of workers or other personal data for contact tracing, or in the case of Montana, to prevent employers from mandating Covid-19 vaccines for their workforce.

Even before the coronavirus slammed ...