Who Pays for Workers’ Time Getting Covid Tests, Employers Wonder

OSHA’s new emergency temporary standard doesn’t require employers to pay testing fees or compensate workers for the time spent being tested, but other federal, state, and local laws may require it and business-side attorneys want clarity on what they should do.

“What OSHA has actually done is not take a position. They said we’re not going to independently require employers to pay for tests, however employers might have to under pre-existing law,” said Devjani Mishra in New York, leader of Littler Mendelson P.C.’s Covid-19 task force.

While the standard took effect Nov. 5, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the ...