Guidance for Businesses, Organizations & Workers

UPDATED Sept 29, 2022

Quarantine Update

Since March 2022, Michigan has not required at-home quarantine for exposed individuals in most situations, even if the exposed individual is unvaccinated. Exposed individuals can continue to come to work if they do not have any symptoms. New guidance from the CDC is in line with this earlier change in Michigan. Please see "What to do if you are sick or exposed" for links to CDC pages. 

CDC COVID-19 Community Level Update

The CDC published COVID-19 Community Levels as a tool to help determine prevention steps to take based on the latest data. Levels can be low, medium, or high, and are established by looking at hospital beds being used, hospital admissions, and the total number of new COVID-19 cases in an area. At "low" and "medium" levels, universal masking in indoor public settings is no longer broadly recommended according to the CDC. At all levels, people can wear a mask based on preference or increased risk for themselves or others. People with symptoms, a positive test, or exposure to someone with COVID-19 should wear a mask. If choosing to wear a mask, a multilayer, surgical, KN95, or N95 mask is recommended rather than a cloth mask.

Business Guidance & Resources

Although previous COVID-19 prevention strategies are no longer required for most settings, the Washtenaw County Health Department strongly encourages each facility to evaluate their operations, and to follow CDC and OSHA recommendations to prevent disease spread and protect worker and patron health and safety. (Note that healthcare settings have specific OSHA and MIOSHA requirements related to COVID-19.)

• COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for Workplaces: Answers to common questions about COVID-19 and workplace issues (what to do if an employee tests positive, etc.) - This information is no longer being updated, as there are not additional requirements or recommendations for businesses and organizations. Please see www.washtenaw.org/covid19whattodo for general guidance.
  • Businesses/organizations may determine their own policies with regard to masking or notification around positive cases who may have been infectious on site. We recommend masking indoors when community levels are high and/or when higher risk individuals are present. Whether you provide notification of positive cases may depend on your operations. We recommend considering notification when/if there are multiple cases connected to a site, such as 10-20% of people in a group. 
• Building signs - Signs about masks, staying home if sick, vaccines, and more.
• Michigan Occupational Safety & Environmental Health (MIOSHA) - Workplace safety guidance, as well as information on filing a complaint.
• Michigan law (PA 238 of 2020 and PA 339 of 2020) states that employees who are in isolation or quarantine because of COVID-19 symptoms, test results, or exposure cannot report to work. These laws also protects employees from being disciplined, discharged, or otherwise retaliated against for staying home during isolation or quarantine.
• Many employees have the right to paid sick leave or unemployment assistance when required to be out of work due to COVID-19.