The Centers for Disease Control has published the consent elements and disclosures involved with workplace SARS-CoV-2 testing.
SARS-CoV-2 testing may be incorporated as part of a comprehensive approach to reducing transmission in non-healthcare workplaces. The CDC document describes the elements of consent and recommended disclosures necessary to support employee decision-making for participating in workplace-based testing. This document expands on the disclosures outlined in “SARS-CoV-2 Testing Strategy: Considerations for Non-Healthcare Workplaces.”
Consent and supporting employee decision-making
Workplace-based testing should not be conducted without the employee’s informed consent. Informed consent requires disclosure, understanding, and free choice, and is necessary for an employee to act independently and make choices according to their values, goals, and preferences.
Differences in position and authority (i.e., workplace hierarchies), as well as employment status in non-standard working arrangements (e.g., temporary help, contract help, or part-time employment), can affect an employee’s ability to make free decisions. To fully support employee decision-making and consent, employers should take the following measures when developing a testing program:
- Ensure safeguards are in place to protect an employee’s privacy and confidentiality.
- Provide complete and understandable information about how the employer’s testing program may impact employees’ lives, such as if a positive test result or declination to participate in testing may mean exclusion from work.
- Explain any parts of the testing program an employee would consider especially important when deciding whether to participate. This involves explaining the key reasons that may guide their decision.
- Provide information about the testing program in the employee’s preferred language using non-technical terms. Consider obtaining employee input on the readability of the information. Employers can use this tool to create clear messages.
- Encourage supervisors and co-workers to avoid pressuring employees to participate in testing.
- Encourage and answer questions during the consent process. The consent process is active information sharing between an employer or their representative and an employee, in which the employer discloses the information, answers questions to facilitate understanding, and promotes the employee’s free choice.
For further info, including the disclosures necessary for workplace testing, go to the CDC's page here.
Source: CDC
