New legal protections for employees who are considered high-risk are now in place. Employers will need to know who qualifies as a high-risk employee and what can and can’t be done during times of a health emergency, such as the coronavirus pandemic. Read all about it in this year’s update to the HERO, the Handbook for Excellent Restaurant Operations. 

The Health Emergency Labor Standards Act (HELSA), protects high-risk employees from any adverse action such as termination and discrimination for requesting accommodations to reduce exposure to the disease. If reasonable accommodations aren’t feasible, employees are entitled to use all available leave options including leave without pay and unemployment insurance (if eligible). 

Read the complete article in our HERO on our members-only website. You can also download the entire manual if you would like to print a hard copy.