Covid-19 Tracking
When returning to work, it is likely that you will need to track vaccination status or coordinate weekly tests for employees. You may choose to purchase an app or software system to help ease this burden, or you may choose to track and coordinate in-house. Use this guide to help your decision making process as you explore this quickly changing landscape.
Current Regulations and How to Remain Compliant
This can be a complicated topic, and the various rules and regulations can seem confusing. Tracking software systems can sometimes help you remain compliant, however, when implementing a vaccine mandate, it is important to understand the various regulations at play, with or without a software system. We are here to support and guide you if you have questions along the way.
See the FAQs from EEOC for further guidance on compliance.
HIPAA - Health Information Portability & Accountability Act
If an employer asks an employee to provide proof that they have been vaccinated, that is not a HIPAA violation. The information and documentation must be maintained in a secure manner and separate from an employee's personal information.
ADA - Americans with Disabilities Act
ADA prohibits discrimination based on disability and disability-related medical examination and inquiries.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency tasked with enforcing the ADA, stated that an employer may request that employees voluntarily provide documentation or other confirmation of a vaccination received; such a document request is not a disability-related inquiry covered by the ADA.
As a best practice, an employer introducing a COVID-19 vaccination policy and requiring documentation or other confirmation of vaccination should notify all employees that the employer will consider requests for reasonable accommodation based on disability on an individualized basis.
Under the ADA, it is unlawful for an employer to disclose that an employee is receiving reasonable accommodation or to retaliate against an employee for requesting an accommodation.
GINA - Genetic Information and Nondiscrimination Act
The act of administering a COVID-19 vaccine does not involve the use of the employee’s genetic information to make employment decisions or the acquisition or disclosure of genetic information and, therefore, does not implicate Title II of GINA.
The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (“GINA”) comes into play if the employer or its agent is responsible for administering the COVID-19 vaccinations AND an incentive is offered on the basis of a family member’s participation.
Things to Consider When Looking for a Covid-19 Tracking Software System
This is a non-exhaustive list, but can help you get started as you begin exploring various Covid-19 tracking tools.
- Understand your goals/needs in order to create a “wish list”
Do you need to manage vaccination status? Do you need to manage contact tracing? Will you be managing weekly tests for unvaccinated employees? Do you need help with administration? What types of reports do you need the system to produce? Etc.
- Explore the employee experience
Make sure the user experience is simple for employees in order to maximize compliance. The tool is only good if it is utilized! Is the tool app based or web based? Do employees have smartphones and/or computer access? Do employees have to go through a registration process?
- Explore the HR ease of use
Make sure to understand the HR user experience. Does your HR team feel comfortable with the technology and navigating the platform? How much training is required? How many different “admins” can have access? Will they be required to troubleshoot issues?
- Ask about the implementation process
Understand what the implementation process looks like and what the timeline is for full implementation and rollout to employees. Consider how the tool and process will be communicated to employees.
- What are the customer service capabilities?
In the event that employees and/or HR staff will run into issues, what are the customer service capabilities for answering questions and tackling IT issues? Can employees reach out customer support directly or will all questions be funneled through HR? Is help available 24/7 if needed?
- What privacy measures are in place?
Make sure the software guarantees HIPAA compliant record management and data storage.
- Understand the cost and how are they charging
In addition to looking at total cost, consider how many of your employees will need to utilize this tool on a regular basis. Are the majority of your employees vaccinated? Do your employees work remote? Is the cost of the tool charged PEPM or is it a flat rate? Do you need to include all employees in the PEPM charge or only employees who are required to utilize the tool? Are you locked into a contract?
A few details on two of the systems we have had conversations with
Vaccination tracking - Employees upload proof of vaccination and HR can validate Vaccination Cards
Testing results - Whether you have an “at-home” or “lab” program, employee test results can be collected and monitored via the ReturnSafe Command Center.
Health screening - Employees record their symptoms in a daily survey and receive a recommendation on whether they should go to work or stay home. The process takes about 5 seconds per day.
Case management - If an employee tests positive, the case management capabilities provide a single command center to effectively manage isolation, contact tracing and quarantine workflows.
Data for compliance reporting
Simple vaccine verification: Provides a self-service, web-based app for employees to upload vaccination status and documentation.
Expert exemption guidance: Handles intake of all medical and non-medical exemption requests, manages sensitive documents as required, and offers built-in decision guidance based on Unum's deep expertise in these areas.
Testing compliance management: Manages documentation of test results for unvaccinated employees, with weekly reminders and employer notifications.
Secure, compliant record handling: Ensures HIPAA-compliant vaccination record management and document storage.
Other tools to consider: 10 COVID-19 Health Tracking and Contact Tracing Tools for Returning Employees