Dear Littler: Do We Need To Do Anything Different For Monkeypox?

Dear Littler: After we finally got our minds (and workplace policies and practices) wrapped around COVID-19, our employees have now expressed concern about monkeypox and what we're doing about it. Although we haven't had any outbreaks in our main offices in California or New Jersey, we want to get ahead of it this time. Is there anything we should be doing differently or thinking about for monkeypox versus what we did for COVID-19?

—Concerned on the Coasts

Dear Concerned:

Perhaps as a result of the impact of COVID-19 in the workplace – and on our lives outside of work – news about the recent appearance of monkeypox (MPX) in the U.S. has employers concerned, especially since the White House declared the spread of MPX virus in the United States a Public Health Emergency on August 4, 2022. California, Illinois, New York, and Puerto Rico have also declared states of emergency regarding the monkeypox virus. But MPX is not COVID-19. It is a rare disease caused by