Celebrate!
This chapter is retired as of May 1, 2023. For guidance on COVi-19, fist the Staff Health and Safety Policy, here.
Later, we will publish archived versions of this policy. Check back later for links the the Staff Health and Safety Policy above.
Thank You!
A debt of gratitude is owed to each and everyone of you for a 100% record of workplace safety during the current COVID-19 pandemic to date. Accend has not had a single confirmed occurence of a workplace transmission of COVID-19 from a staff-to-staff, staff-to-client, or client-to-staff to date.
Some of you have been sick. Some of you have had sick family members. Some of you have had other exposures without becoming ill. None of you have passed the virus along to coworkers or clients, or contracted the virus from someone at work (that we know of).
Wow! This has been hard, but you have been terrific. Thank you all for your diligence and safety. Let's keep it up!
Thanks also to our Nursing Team who have provided leadership in this effort.
March 22, 2023:
Where until this date, our policy on masking read: "Masking is required in all facilities, unless you are alone in a private office, and for all face-to-face services with clients," this is is no longer mandated.
Please read the new guidance on masking here.
Other minor language clarifications and typos corrected not resulting in policy or procedural changes.
February 8, 2023:
Safety Procedures, Exposure, Isolation and Work Restrictions again simplified
September 8, 2022:
Safety Procedures, Exposure, Isolation and Work Restrictions Simplified
August 25, 2022:
The time period during which staff must avoid entering a home where it is known that a resident has been diagnosed with COVID-19 has changed from 14 days to "until at least 5 days after infected individual has tested positive and only after the individual has been symptom-free for 24 hours without the aid of medication."
May 31, 2022:
Minor changes to persons responsible for contact tracing and contacting exposed individuals (staff and clients). Where previously Managers were tasked with this, the policy is changed to reflect current practice that RNs have been and will continue to perform this task.
April 6, 2022:
Requirements that clients be masked in home and community based services (or that you decline face-to-face services) have been lifted. You are still strongly encouraged to ask clients to wear masks. You are still required to wear a mask at all times, and masks are required of all staff and visitors in our office settings.
January 14, 2022:
The Supreme Court has overturned the OSHA Workplace Vaccine Mandate. Your vaccination status is still important for us to know as it affects protocols for work restrictions and quarrantinng based on exposure.
Keep in mind that mask mandates are currently in effect for the cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis, and for the city of Duluth effective 1/14 at 5 PM for 30 days. These mandates require masks in all indoor busnesses.
January 13, 2022:
Update to the ride-sharing policy (Jan 13, 2022): Ridesharing is again prohibited until further notice.
January 6, 2022:
Requirements for quarranting post-exposure are modified based on updates to CDC guidelines. Instructions for clients are added.
December 21, 2021:
A federal appeals court has reinstated the workplace vaccination mandate described in the November 4th update below. To comply, we must adhere to the following revised date:
January 10, 2022: Employees must provide proof that they have completed their full vaccination series or submit to weekly testing until they are fully-vaccinated (14 days following the second dose.
What Is a Test?
According to the OSHA mandate, the test must be an FDA-approved antigen or PCR test and cannot be both self-administered and self-read. That means that tests administered and processed at home, unobserved by either the employer or an authorized telehealth proctor, are not sufficiently reliable. Accend will not provide a proctor for self-testing.
December 16, 2021:
Close contact is redefined to match Minnesota Deparment of Health guidelines for Business and Industry. MDH guidelines are sricter than those that the federal CDC has publised. We choose to follow MDH guidelines as our state has the authority to set these guidelines for good reason considering Minnesota has a high infection rate.
December 8, 2021:
Procedures for requenting unpaid medical leave for exposure clarified when physician orders are not made available.
November 30, 2021
Definition of exposure clarified to exclude exposure to exposed persons without direct exposure to infected persons.
November 6, 2021: On the Below
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (Louisiana) has issued a temporary stay of the Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) recently-issued by OSHA, requiring vaccines or mandatory testing and masking requirements for unvaccinated staff.
While we support the judicial process, nothing in this or any previous court precedent prevents us, as an employer from mandating vaccines of employees. In fact, previous court precedent upholds the employers’ right to require vaccination, testing, etc. as a requirement for employment. Several large employers across the US have already implemented such vaccine mandates, and these requirements (and their effectiveness) were used as one part of the rationale to justify the national order.
Our plan is to hold fast on our current vaccine (or testing) mandate that we have described here in our policy in response to the ETS, and await further instruction from OSHA, and federal and state labor and health departments on our requirements and responsibilities as regards vaccine mandates. So, we will still require vaccines or weekly testing as a condition of continued employment as of the deadlines in the OSHA ETS.
This policy, if we choose to continue it, may not be supported by the ETS issued by OSHA, but is supported by court precedence on employment law regarding individual employer mandates. This means that we may elect to enforce it, regardless of what the courts and federal government require us to do. If we do so, our policy will look much the same as it does now in response to the (now-stayed) order.
Get your proof of vaccination status in as soon as possible to avoid other requirements and hassles of this policy.
November 4, 2021: COVID-19 Vaccination Required by OSHA
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued an emergency temporary standard (ETS) to minimize the risk of COVID-19 transmission in the workplace. The ETS establishes binding requirements to protect unvaccinated employees of large employers (100 or more employees) from the risk of contracting COVID-19 in the workplace. This standard applies to Accend.
The ETS requires covered employers to develop, implement, and enforce a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy, with an exception for employers that instead establish, implement, and enforce a policy allowing employees who are not fully vaccinated to elect to undergo weekly COVID-19 testing and wear a face covering at the workplace.
What follows is our response to this order.
Effective Dates
To comply, employers must ensure provisions are addressed in the workplace by the following dates:
December 4, 2021: Employees must provide proof that they have completed their primary vaccination dose(s).
January 4, 2022: Employees must provide proof of their full 2-shot (or single dose Pfizer) vaccination series.
The ETS requires employers to determine the vaccination status of each employee, obtain acceptable proof of vaccination, maintain records of each employee’s vaccination status, and maintain a roster of each employee’s vaccination status, or establish, implement, and enforce a policy allowing employees who are not fully vaccinated to elect to undergo weekly COVID-19 testing and wear a face covering at the workplace.
Unvaccinated Staff
Anyone who is not vaccinated by the deadlines in this policy must provide weekly proof of a negative COVID-19 test on the same day and time as the previous test in order to maintain employment. Anyone not providing this proof shall be laid of without pay immediately until such proof is provided.
An acceptable COVID-19 test is a test for SARS-CoV-2 that is: (i) Cleared, approved, or authorized, including in an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to detect current infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus (e.g., a viral test); (ii) administered in accordance with the authorized instructions; and (iii) not both self-administered and self-read unless observed by an authorized telehealth proctor. Examples of tests that satisfy this requirement include tests with specimens that are processed by a laboratory (including home or on-site collected specimens which are processed either individually or as pooled specimens), proctored over-the-counter tests, point of care tests.
Your first test will be accepted. After this, we might require additional information about the testing site to approve the test, and will inform you of this at least 3 days prior to your subsequent test. Home tests (not convfirmed by health professionals) are not acceptable for this proof.
Failure to provide proof of testing even once by the required deadlines may result in permanent termination.
Additionally, unvaccinated staff must wear PPE at all times while on duty including a facemask, and additional equipment as required by this policy elsewhere based on services provided.
Accend will not pay or reimburse for the cost of testing, missed time, or any other costs associated with testing as required by this policy. This policy is also supported by the OSHA ETS.
Paid Time Off for Vaccinations
In compliance with the ETS, you may use PTO for missed work time spent obtaining your vaccination (up to a total of 4 hours each time you receive a vaccination) and for time spent recovering from side effects as a result of having received your vaccination.
All Other Provisions Apply
All other provisions of this Plan (also required by OSHA and the Minnesota Department of Health) apply to all employees, regardless of vaccination status.
Other Updates
With potential updates to this plan happening rapidly we will post them here with dates for quick reference. You will receive email notifications for substantial changes to this plan. If you have bookmarked this page, tap refresh in your browser to get the latest updates.
November 4, 2021: The OSHA Vaccination Mandate above is our update on this date.
On October 27, 2021: Clarification on language when employees are exposed and leave policies.
Employees who must quarrantine as as result of exposure should follow the Paid Time Off and Leaves of Absence Policy using PTO as required and requesting unpaid medical leave as per our policy.
On October 20, 2021: We re-aligned our safety requirements regarding PPE with those of the Minnesota Department of Health and CDC. These guidelines were changed as a result of break-through infections for vaccinated individuals due to the Delta variant.
Some updates to the Adherence language are also added, along with the closely-related Thank You! above.
October 8, 2021: The plan has been cleaned up and simplified See update notifications released prior to March, 2021 in the Archive.
October 6, 2021: Guidance for Return to Work after testing positive has been updated to match Minnesota Department of Health guidelines.
Requirements for quarantine for staff exposed to COVID are updated to reflect MDH recommendations and are the same for all staff.
Paid Leave for COVID has expired and that section has been moved to the archived section of this plan.
Some clarifications on whom to contact regarding illness and exposure.
Clarification on the applicability Work from Home policy.
July 22, 2021: Verbal Consent for Treatment shall expire for any service regardless of the type of form used on September 1, 2021. Meanwile, consents that include Authorizations for Release of Information may not be signed verbally. This includes the new Integrated Adult Services Plan, which includes a consent form
Adherence to This Policy, Laws and Government Orders Required
All employees must adhere to this policy and all government orders while at work and off-duty. This includes residents of other states while in Minnesota for government orders specific to Minnesota and for any appicable government orders for their home state.
Violations of this policy on-duty or off-duty may result in disciplinary action up to and including involuntary termination depending on the circumstances.
Our policies here are based on guidelines from the Minnesota Department of Health or the federal Center for Disease Control (CDC). Involuntary termination may be the consequence of failure to compy with rules a business establishes based on these guidelines.
When OSHA or other government rules order certain requirements for our workplace, we must comply, as must you, and involutary termination will be the consequence of failure to comply with these rules. Refusal to comply with government-ordered safety requirements is considered misconduct.
Currently, OSHA only requires that we have a safety plan related to COVID-19 meeting their minimum requirements, and that we enforce it. OSHA has inquired about this and found us in compliance. Future OSHA requirements, such as a vaccine mandate, may require additional compliance.
Failure to compy with reasonable company safety policies, and without exception for government-ordered safety policies, has significant court precedence to disqualify employees who are terminated on these grounds for unemployment or any other involuntary discharge compensation.
Workplace Safety, Illness and Exposure
General Safety
Wash hands frequently throughout the day.
Conduct screenings with all clients prior to face-to-face services. These symptoms are:
- Fever
- Chills
- A new cough
- Shortness of breath
- A new sore throat
- New muscle aches
- New headache
- New loss of smell or taste
All employees are asked to self-monitor and not report to work in the office, or provide face-to-face services if they are experiencing any of the symptoms listed above. If symptoms are mild enough that you can still work, and only if you have tested negative, you may come to work, but are asked to mask.
Ridesharing with clients is prohibited until further notice regardless of vaccination status.
Employees may travel by car together if both are wearing masks and are fully-vaccinated.
Masking Guidelines
Masking is no longer mandated by Accend in any setting as of March 22, 2023, unless the community setting where you are providing services requires it (e.g. most health care clinics and hospitals still require masks). Follow the below guidelines for masking and safety.
- Voluntary masking is fully-supported. Do not feel peer pressure to unmask and always wear a mask f you:
- are more comfortable masking,
- are at high risk or have family members who at high risk,
- are unable to be vaccitnated, or
- for any other personal reason.
- When working face-to-face with clients.
- When working with a client who is masked, always wear a mask yourself.
- Ask the client if they prefer you wear a mask. If so, wear one whether or not they are masked. If appropriate, educate the client on when they might prefer you wear a mask (certain health conditions or high risk of infeciton, etc.)
- Consider wearing a mask when working with a client who is exhibiting symptoms. Do so gently so as not to appear judging or fearful of them, rather explain that you want to further protect them if they are in a weakened immune state.
- Wear a mask as a show of support/solidarity when with a coworker who is masked.
- Wear a mask when you are experiencing mild symptoms of any kind that are not too severe to prevent you from working, (and after testing negative for COVID). This will also help prefent the spread of flu and colds. As always, when experiencing mild symptoms, first test for COVID, and report to work only if the test is negative.
- Masking is still strongly recommended by the CDC when using public transportation.
Related guidelines:
- Contnue to social distance while providing all face-to-face services to clients or face-to-face meetings with coworkers.
- Ridesharing with clients remains prohibited because social distancing is not possible in a car.
- Testing within 3-5 days after long-distance travel on buses, planes or trains is still strongly recommended by the CDC, regardless of symptoms.
Definition of Fully-Vaccinated
You are fully-vaccinated (up to date) with your COVID-19 vaccines if you have completed a COVID-19 vaccine primary series and received the most recent booster dose recommended for you by CDC. Ask your physician for guidance on what vaccines you may still need.
Exposure Defined
Close contact/exposure is defined as follows.
- a) Contact is defined as spending a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more within 6 feet of an infectious person, unless there was a physical barrier between them, such as a cubicle wall or full Plexiglas screen, or all people were using a face covering and face shield, regardless of vaccination status.
- – or –
- b) Having direct contact with infectious secretions (e.g., being coughed on). Contact with secretions can possibly also occur through physical contact (touching), or touching infected surfaces and then touching one's face before washing hands.
Work Restriction, Isolaton and Exposure Protocols
| Exposure or Illness Risk |
Fully Vaccinated |
| Employee exposed |
Work restriction is not necessary for asymptomatic staff following a higher-risk exposure, regardless of vaccination status. |
| Employee has symptoms |
Get tested. If negative, return to work when symptom-free for 24 hours. |
| Employee tests positive for COVID-19 |
Staff who are infected (test positive) but are asymptomatic or staff with mild COVID-19 should isolate through at least day 5 (day O is the day symptoms appeared or the date the specimen was collected for the positive test for people who are asymptomatic). Return to work on ly when sypmmptom free for at least 24 hours.
People with moderate or severe COVID-19 should isolate through at least day 10.
Those with severe COVID-19 may remain infectious beyond 10 days and may need to extend isolation for up to 20 days. Seek guidance from a health care professional if you experience moderate to severe COVID symptoms. |
| Client is exposed |
Offer assistance in getting tested.
If test is negative, or if the individual is symptom-free resume face-to-face services.
This same policy applies to all services, including center-based chldren's services.
|
| Client exhibits or reports symptoms |
Offer assistance in getting tested. resume face-to-face services only when the client has been symptom-free for 24 hours. |
| Client tests postive |
Avoid face-to-face contact for 5 days (offer Telehealth services) and resume face-to-face services only if the client is symptom-free. |
| Member of a client's household tests positive |
Avoid entering the home for 5 days from the household member's positive test, and only after all household members have been symptom-free for 24 hours |
|
|
Workplace Exposure
Read the definition for exposure above. If you believe you have had a workplace exposure,
- Contact your Program Manager and complete an incident report.
- If fully-vaccinated, you need not quarrantine or seek physician advice unless you experience symptoms of COVID-19.
- If not full-vaccinated at the time of the exposure:
- Seek your physician’s advice on testing, or follow our guidance above.
- Contact your Program Manager immediately to report your physician’s instructions.
- Send us a copy of the insructions you received from your physician or clinic.
- Complete a leave request if needed, following the instructions above.
- Do not return to work until you have met the criteria to discontinue home isolation and have consulted with a healthcare provider.
Worker's Compensation Benefits if You Contract COVID-19 at Work
Minnesota Statute 176.011, subdivision 15 was amended on 4/8/2020 to cover as a worker's compensation injury, health care workers who contract COVID-19 through direct contact with individuals who have COVID-19.
How this law will be interpreted by our Worker's Compensation insurance carrier is difficult to say at this time, but the new law appears to mean that you may be eligible for worker's compensation if both of these conditions apply:
- 1) you worked directly with an individual who was diagnosed with COVID-19, and
- 2) you subsequently tested positive for COVID-19 with a positive (professionaly-administered not a home test) or were diagnosed with COVID-19 by a health care professional, based on your symptoms. YOu must submit evidence of this and the known workplace-related COVID exposure.
Neither of the above appears to include that you or the individual worked with exhibited symptoms. Legal guidance provided to us indicates that the individual with whom you had contact was known to have COVID-19, your contact with the individual must have been direct, and that you have documentation of a diagnosis.
This plan will develop and change rapidly. Please visit frequently and send us your thoughts and questions about in this chapter by tapping on the link below. Send all questions using the link below.
