Staff

Prior to returning to physically returning to work, you are required to obtain clearance from Employee Health. Upon receiving clearance, Employee Health will send the following notice to you and your supervisor.

As a manager or supervisor, you are likely in the best position to have a sense of who was and was not in close physical contact with an employee who tests positive.  While we recommend erring on the side of caution and including the employee(s) in the distribution of the message, if you have a clearer sense of those who need to receive a notification, you are welcome to send the co-worker notification to a more localized group of individuals.

To avoid the risk of sharing inaccurate information, we recommend waiting for the official secure email notification from Employee Health before sending a co-worker notification.  If you have not received the secure email notification, please check your spam folder or contact Employee Health.

Managers and supervisors should not contact individuals to determine whether they came in contact with someone with a positive diagnose.  And in all cases, managers must maintain the confidentiality of the identity of the infected individual. “Co-worker notification” is not the same as contact tracing. The Virginia Department of Public Health is responsible for contact tracing, which involves connecting with individuals who may have come in close contact with a confirmed positive case. Co-worker notification operates very differently.

As a manager or supervisor, you are likely in the best position to have a sense of who was and was not in close physical contact with an employee who tests positive. If you are unsure of the status of whether an employee(s) should be included in the notification, we recommend erring on the side of caution and including the employee(s) in the distribution of the message.   While individuals who are working remotely all the time likely do not need to know of a confirmed positive case since they are not likely to have been exposed, being broad and inclusive in the not

Please exercise discretion to allow employee(s) to work remotely, if possible, to help alleviate employee concerns.  In addition, please reference What to do if Someone Around Me Tests Positive for COVID-19 handout.

Co-worker notification is required by law not only to provide information to individuals in the workplace of a positive case, but also to provide transparency and to allow for appropriate action that may be required. 

1. Please keep in mind that this is a stressful time for not only the affected employee but for their coworkers as well. Please show compassion and support, and feel free to direct team members to FEAP as appropriate.

Yes.  Employee Health will send a secure email notifying the following parties of a positive case which includes identifying information (name of the employee):

1. Employee (UVA email address)
2. Supervisor (UVA email address)
3. Human Resources
4. Emergency Management

The notification from Employee Health will include instructions and a notification template to use for notifying the affected employee's coworkers of the positive case without disclosing the name of the employee.

Yes.  If test results are negative the employee is cleared to physically return to work if they work on Grounds. Their manager and the employee will be notified by Employee Health.

Yes.  Once Employee Health performs an assessment, which may include referring an employee for testing, a notification below will be sent from Employee Health to the employee and their supervisor.

• If the employee is able to work remotely, he/she should continue to do so pending the test result.
• If the employee is unable to work remotely due to symptoms or the nature of their work, the employee should be placed in a paid leave category (PHEL - Public Health Emergency Leave) pending the outcome of the test.