EMPLOYERS will continue to play an important role in protecting employees from catching and spreading Covid-19. Eighty-six percent of employees believe their employer has an “obligation” to notify employees who have been in contact with a co-worker who tests positive for Covid-19, according to a recent study from Kronos and the Harris Poll. And approximately 50% of workers are comfortable with their employer using their scheduling records and other data to perform contact tracing.

INFECTION rates would impact employers’ reopening plans, the Kronos survey shows. Eighty-eight percent of employees currently working from home due to Covid-19 would not want to risk returning to their workplace if there were rising cases of Covid-19 in their area. And 66% of workers that are heading to the office each day feel the same way.

A new survey conducted by the American Federation of Government Employees found of the 56% of federal employees working remotely, 79% would not feel safe if they were asked to return to their normal worksite, although 53% said their agency still had not communicated its plan for returning employees to offices.

AMONG respondents who have been working on-site, 73.1% of federal workers said they don’t believe their agency is taking precautions needed to protect them from Covid-19 exposure. Although 69.8% said their agency has a coronavirus workplace safety plan in place, only 29.7% said they believe the agency is following best practices for workers’ health and safety. For employees who are required to wear protective equipment like N95 masks, gloves and sterilized gowns, only 56.2% of respondents said their employer has a sufficient supply.

MOM always said not to talk about politics or religion in polite company, and she may be right. While 22% of the professionals surveyed by Robert Half said it’s appropriate to discuss politics with colleagues, 26% said it’s never OK. Just over half (53%) said it’s OK to discuss politics with coworkers, depending on the situation.