Navigating ins and outs of COVID-19 employee travel restrictions

With no end to the COVID-19 crisis in sight and the numbers of positive cases increasing in many areas, you may want to consider implementing a policy for your employees’ travel, if you haven’t already done so. As with most subjects in these uncharted waters, you should proceed cautiously when considering and implementing a pandemic-related travel policy.

Can you require employees to inform you of their travel?

The first question is whether you can require employees to notify management of personal travel. There’s no law prohibiting such a requirement. And given the concerns about the spread of COVID-19, a policy requiring employees to notify management of travel out of state or out of the country could be wise to protect coworkers and customers from potential exposure to the virus.

If you decide to implement, or have implemented, such a policy, you should put it in writing and distribute it to all employees. It should require them to notify a specific individual or individuals in management (for example, the HR director or an immediate supervisor) before traveling out of state or out of the country for any reason—including weekend travel for which no vacation time is used. The notification should include the dates of travel, locations traveled to, the method of travel (car, airplane, etc.), and information on accommodations (home, condominium, hotel, campground, etc.).