The state has begun distributing rapid COVID-19 tests to employers, in an effort to ramp up to 25,000 tests a day statewide.
Manufacturers are among the businesses already offering them. Workers use the kits to take the tests themselves before entering the workplace. Results are available in as little as 15 minutes.
The testing cost about $180 per company to participate.
There are some potential privacy issues for employers to be aware of.
Andrew Prescott, managing partner for the Providence office of the national law firm Nixon Peabody LLP, told Providence Business News that since the late 1980s, Rhode Island has had a statute that prevents employers from requiring tests that draw blood, saliva or other body fluids from existing employees.
Whether that could be applied to COVID-19 tests is a question that hasn’t been tested in court, he says. So, he advises employers to make the tests voluntary.
