Monkeypox: What, If Anything, Should Employers Do?

Summary

Given the recent trauma many employers experienced due to the COVID-19 pandemic, proactive employers are wondering what, if anything, they need to do about the monkeypox virus, which was recently declared a global health emergency. The World Health Organization (WHO) and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have reported increased cases of monkeypox since May in Europe and North America – where the disease is not regularly found – with more than 23,000 confirmed cases worldwide and 5,800 in the United States. In fact, California, New York, and Illinois have all declared states of emergency over the current outbreak and further local jurisdictions seem sure to follow suit. And while monkeypox is not expected to reach pandemic levels, you may want to prepare for a potential outbreak by creating a written infectious disease policy and reviewing other key workplace policies. This article addresses a few commonly posed questions to aid employers that are wondering: What is ...