This Won’t Hurt a Bit: Employee Temperature and Health Screenings – A List of Statewide Orders, as of May 3, 2020

By Littler Mendelson on May 3, 2020

Governors and public health officials across the country have implemented stringent measures to help contain the spread of COVID-19, such as stay at home and face covering mandates. Some jurisdictions also require employers to screen the health of employees, often as they begin a shift. These health screening steps, including temperature checks, may become more common as states begin to reopen their economies.

This post, current as of May 3, 2020 at 12:00 p.m. (CDT), covers laws and orders that require employers to take employees’ temperatures and/or conduct other employee health screening procedures, such as asking employees about any COVID-19-consistent symptoms using a questionnaire or checklist. This chart covers only generally applicable requirements and does not cover the heightened requirements applicable to certain types of employees, such as healthcare workers; public health workers; long-term care, assisted living, and nursing home workers; first responders; and law enforcement. We will update this list regularly but expect it will become outdated quickly as new announcements are made.

Note that this list does not include temperature or health screening requirements at the local level. In addition, this post does not address other significant issues related to employer screenings of employee health, including potential wage and hour, discrimination, and privacy concerns. As a result, employers should consult with counsel for details on additional orders that may apply to their operations and for guidance on related legal questions.

Employers interested in further information may wish to consult our articles identifying face covering guidance and return to work protocols.

Jurisdiction	Temperature Screening	Other Health Screening
Alabama	No requirement	No requirement
Alaska	No requirement	No requirement
Arizona	No requirement	Recommended for retailers. Retail employers should implement symptom screening for employees prior to the start of their shift.
Arkansas	No requirement	Required for restaurant employers. All staff shall be screened for specified symptoms daily before entering the workplace. Required for gyms and fitness centers. All staff shall be screened for specified symptoms daily before entering the workplace.
California	No requirement. NOTE: At least one California county recommends employee temperature screenings. Please check with your Littler attorney for additional information about your particular jurisdiction.	No requirement. NOTE: Some California counties have varying degrees of requirements for employee health screenings. Please check with your Littler attorney for additional information about your particular jurisdiction.
Colorado	Required. Employers must conduct daily temperature checks.	Required. Employers must implement symptom monitoring protocols and may use an employee health screening form for checking symptoms.
Connecticut	Recommended. Employees should take their temperature before they go to work. If they have a temperature above 100.4F, they should stay home.	No requirement
Delaware	Required for high-risk businesses and recommended for all others: each employee must be asked about and report body temperature at or above 99.5F. If a facility has the capability to perform active temperature monitoring, they may do so. Division of Public Health Essential Services Screening Policy	Required for high-risk businesses and recommended for all others: employers must screen each incoming employee with a basic questionnaire. NOTE: At least one Delaware county has varying degrees of requirements for employee health screenings. Please check with your Littler attorney for additional information about your particular jurisdiction.
District of Columbia	No requirement	Required. Retail food sellers (including grocery stores, supermarkets, convenience stores, food halls, and food banks) must check employees for symptoms before their shifts and exclude employees with cold- or flu-like symptoms. If an employee exhibits symptoms during shift, exclude that employee.
Florida	No requirement	No requirement
Georgia	No requirement	Required for restaurants, food establishments, gyms, fitness centers, bowling alleys, and personal care services. Employers must screen and evaluate employees who exhibit signs of illness, such as a fever over 100.4F, cough, or shortness of breath. Employers must require employees who exhibit signs of illness to seek medical attention and not report to work. Strongly recommended for all other businesses. Gyms and fitness centers are also required to screen patrons at entrance and refuse entry to those displaying symptoms.
Hawaii	No requirement	No requirement
Idaho	No requirement	No requirement
Illinois	No requirement	Recommended. Employees who appear to have acute respiratory illness symptoms (i.e., cough, shortness of breath) upon arrival to work or become sick during the day should be separated from other employees and be sent home immediately.
Indiana	Recommended for reopening businesses but not required.	Required. Reopening businesses must conduct employee health screenings.
Iowa	Recommended. Employees with temperatures 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit should be sent home. Employees should be screened before and after each shift. Employers should use the screening algorithm.	Recommended. Employers should also screen the employees for coughs, sore throats, difficulty breathing and any other respiratory symptoms. Employees should be screened before and after each shift. Employers should use the screening algorithm.
Kansas	No requirement	No requirement
Kentucky	No requirement	No requirement
Louisiana	No requirement	Recommended. Employees who appear to have acute respiratory illness symptoms upon arrival to work should be separated from other employees and sent home.
Maine	No requirement	No requirement
Maryland	Recommended when an outbreak becomes sufficiently severe or widespread.	No requirement
Massachusetts	No requirement	No requirement
Michigan	Required for food selling establishment and pharmacy employees who have indicated that they have had close contact with a person with COVID-19 during the previous 14 days. Employers should measure the employee’s temperature and assess symptoms each day before they start work. Ideally, temperature checks should happen before the individual enters the facility. Recommended for construction businesses, which must conduct temperature screening "if possible."	Required for food selling establishments and pharmacies. Such employers must ask employees symptom and contact screening questions as they report for work. Required for construction businesses. Conduct a daily entry screening protocol for workers and visitors entering the worksite, including a questionnaire covering symptoms and exposure to people with possible COVID-19, together with, if possible, a temperature screening. NOTE: Some Michigan counties have varying degrees of requirements for employee health screenings. Please check with your Littler attorney for additional information about your particular jurisdiction.
Minnesota	Recommended. Employers should consider regular health checks (e.g., temperature and respiratory symptom screening) of staff and visitors entering buildings if feasible. Required for meatpacking industry employers. Such employers must conduct temperature screening if it can be done with proper social distancing and hygiene. If a worker has an oral or aural temperature above 99.5F confirmed with oral or aural thermometer, the worker should be further evaluated by a plant occupational health nurse, who can determine if the employee can go home to recover, or should report to healthcare.	Recommended. Employers should consider regular health checks (e.g., temperature and respiratory symptom screening) of staff and visitors entering buildings if feasible. Required for meatpacking industry employers. Such employers must conduct screening each time employees or visitors enter the facility using the following verbal screening questions listed in the guidance. Required for industrial, manufacturing, and office-based businesses reopening on or after April 27: such employers' COVID-19 Preparedness Plans must include employee health screening procedures.
Mississippi	No requirement	No requirement
Missouri	No requirement	No requirement
Montana	No requirement	Required. Employers must conduct health assessments on employees at the beginning of each shift. Personal care services businesses must also screen customers prior to appointments for symptoms.
Nebraska	Required for restaurants reopening for dine-in. Complete employee pre-screening (e.g., take temperature and assess for any symptoms consistent with COVID-19) prior to starting work. Recommended for meat processing facilities. The recommended health screening should include temperature checks.	Required for restaurants reopening for dine-in. Complete employee pre-screening (e.g., take temperature and assess for any symptoms consistent with COVID-19) prior to starting work. Recommended for meat processing facilities. All employees and essential visitors/contractors should be screened daily for symptoms.
Nevada	No requirement	Recommended for grocery employers. Employers should monitor employees for signs of illness and require sick workers to stay home.
New Hampshire	Required. Essential businesses and organizations and those that are re-opening all or a portion of their operations must document the temperature of all employees daily before their shift. Employers should take the temperatures of their employees on-site with a non-touch thermometer each day upon the employees arrival at work.If this is not possible, temperatures can be taken before arriving as long as it can sufficiently be authenticated by the employee. Normal temperature should not exceed 100.0F.	Required. Essential businesses and organizations and those that are re-opening all or a portion of their operations must develop a process for screening all employees reporting for work for COVID-19 related symptoms by asking the questions listed in the order. The person responsible for screening should wear a cloth face covering.
New Jersey	No requirement	No requirement
New Mexico	Recommended for restaurants, retail food stores, and food delivery services.	Recommended for restaurants, retail food stores, and food delivery services.
New York	No requirement	No requirement
North Carolina	No requirement. NOTE: Some North Carolina counties have varying degrees of requirements for employee temperature screenings. Please check with your Littler attorney for additional information about your particular jurisdiction.	No requirement. NOTE: Some North Carolina counties have varying degrees of requirements for employee health screenings. Please check with your Littler attorney for additional information about your particular jurisdiction.
North Dakota	Recommended. Employers may check employees’ temperatures when they arrive to work.	Recommended. If an employee calls in sick, an employer may ask the employee if they are experiencing symptoms related to COVID-19.
Ohio	Recommended. Employers should screen employees each day before work if they cannot work from home. An employee with a temperature of 100.4F must be sent home. If an employer cannot take employees’ temperatures, the employer should have employees take their temperatures at home and stay home if they have a fever.	Required. Employers must conduct daily health assessments on employees.
Oklahoma	No requirement. NOTE: At least one Oklahoma county recommends employee temperature screenings. Please check with your Littler attorney for additional information about your particular jurisdiction.	No requirement
Oregon	No requirement	No requirement
Pennsylvania	Recommended generally, required for confirmed exposure. Employers may take employees’ temperatures before they begin work and send employees home if they have a fever of 100.4F or above. If the business has been exposed to a person who is a probable or confirmed case of COVID19, employers shall implement the above temperature screening protocol.	Required for construction employers. Such employers must employ jobsite screening based on CDC guidance to determine if employees should work and prohibit any employees with any symptoms of COVID-19 from working.
Puerto Rico	No requirement	Required. Employers must implement a protocol to monitor and screen personnel prior to entering the workplace, along with the procedures to follow in case they detect an employee with symptoms.
Rhode Island	No requirement	Recommended. Employers are recommended to have employees complete a verbal health screening and ask them if they are experiencing any of the specified symptoms related to COVID-19.
South Carolina	No requirement	No requirement
South Dakota	No requirement	Recommended. Employers can ask employees screening questions when they report to work and keep a daily screening log.
Tennessee	Recommended. "Best practice:" employers to take temperatures on site with a no-touch thermometer each day upon arrival at work. "Minimum:" Temperatures can be taken before arriving. Normal temperature should not exceed 100.4F.	Recommended. Screen employees with questions about symptoms.
Texas	Required for retail businesses that are reopening. The Department of State Health Services guidance requires that all employees must be screened before coming into the business for specified symptoms consistent with COVID-19, including feeling feverish or a measured temperature of 100.0F or greater. The guidance does not state that employers must take employees’ temperatures. NOTE: Some Texas counties also have varying degrees of requirements for employee temperature screenings. Please check with your Littler attorney for additional information about your particular jurisdiction.	Required for retail businesses that are reopening. All employees must be screened before coming into the business for specified symptoms consistent with COVID-19 or known close contact with a person who is lab-confirmed to have COVID-19. Any employee who meets any of these criteria should be sent home. NOTE: Some Texas counties also have varying degrees of requirements for employee health screenings. Please check with your Littler attorney for additional information about your particular jurisdiction.
Utah	No requirement	Recommended. Management should screen employees on a daily basis and at the beginning of each shift for symptoms consistent with COVID-19. Employees who present symptoms consistent with COVID-19 should not be permitted to work at the physical premises of the business.
Vermont	Required. To the extent feasible, prior to the commencement of each work shift, pre-screening or survey shall be required to verify each employee has no symptoms of respiratory illness, including temperature checks.	Required. To the extent feasible, prior to the commencement of each work shift, pre-screening or survey shall be required to verify each employee has no symptoms of respiratory illness, including temperature checks.
Virginia	Recommended. All critical infrastructure/essential personnel, regardless of known exposure, should self-monitor for symptoms under the supervision of their employer’s occupational health program including taking their own temperatures before each work shift to check for fever.	Recommended. All critical infrastructure/essential personnel, regardless of known exposure, should self-monitor for symptoms under the supervision of their employer’s occupational health program including taking their own temperatures before each work shift to check for fever. All businesses/employers should consider requesting their staff to self-monitor for symptoms even in the absence of a formal, onsite occupational health program.
Washington	Required on low-risk construction sites. Employer must take each worker's temperature at the beginning of their shift. Thermometers used shall be ‘no touch’ or ‘no contact’ to the greatest extent possible. If a ‘no touch’ or ‘no contact’ thermometer is not available, the thermometer must be properly sanitized between each use. Any worker with a temperature of 100.4°F or higher is considered to have a fever and must be sent home.	Recommended. All employers are advised to screen everyone who enters their facility, including all employees before the start of each work shift and all visitors. The guidance lists suggested screening questions. Required on low-risk construction sites. Employers must screen all workers at the beginning of their shift by asking them if they have any of the specified symptoms.
West Virginia	Required for certain employers. Restaurant and bar employers “are being requested” to monitor their employees daily for common symptoms of COVID-19, including checking employees’ temperatures upon arrival for work.	Required for certain employers. Restaurant and bar employers “are being requested” to monitor their employees daily for common symptoms of COVID-19, including checking employees’ temperatures upon arrival for work. Small businesses are recommended to screen employees for COVID-19 symptoms daily using a series of questions.
Wisconsin	No requirement	No requirement
Wyoming	No requirement	Required. Gym employees must be screened for symptoms of illness before each shift. Required. Personal care services employees must be screened for symptoms of illness before each shift.