New COVID-19 Testing Policy

This message is intended for all DOL federal employees

Colleagues,

New guidance on COVID-19 Testing for DOL employees is now available on LaborNet with information on when the

Department will pay for or reimburse for COVID-19 testing costs in the case of a workplace exposure or if required in the

course of performing your job or for official travel.

Additionally, starting January 18, all employees who are not fully vaccinated will be required to show a negative COVID19 test result if they are coming onsite to a DOL facility or other in-person worksite. This testing requirement applies

regardless of whether a not fully vaccinated employee has a pending or approved accommodation. As a reminder, all

employees must be fully vaccinated in accordance with EO 14043 unless they have applied for a legally required

exception. More information on these policies is included below and full details are available on LaborNet

The DOL COVID-19 Coordination Team continues to monitor the evolving situation and believes these additional

protocol will help en ure we continue to have a afe and healthy workplace a we prepare for the tart of Pha e 1 on

January 31.

Plea e be aware thi policy may be updated a needed to follow the late t Safer Federal Workforce and Center for

Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance. You can also always find the latest information on the New Testing Tile

on the COVID-19 LaborNet page.

Additionally, you have probably seen the CDC’s new guidelines on ending isolation and quarantine after a COVID-19

exposure or positive result. We are in the process of updating our internal policy documents accordingly and will have

more for you on this soon.

Thank you,

Rachana

Rachana Desai Martin (she/her)

Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management 

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management

U S Department of Labor

Testing Guidance Overview

Testing After a COVID-19 Workplace Exposure

LABORNET
If you have been exposed to COVID-19 in the workplace, you should report this exposure to your supervisor who will

reque t information needed to report the e po ure in line with our guidance on potential and actual workplace e po ure

People should get tested 5 days after exposure regardless of vaccination status.

The Department will pay for the te t with a purcha e card or reimbur e the co t of the te t u ing form SF 1034 if that i

not possible. You may use duty time to get tested in this case. Where more than one hour of duty time is needed,

including travel time to the test site and to return to work — as we understand may be likely in the current testing

ituation plea e email your upervi or to document the rea on for the additional time (for e ample long line , no

testing locations nearby etc.). Travel costs associated with getting to and from the testing site are also reimbursable with

prior approval from your upervi or See more detail on LaborNet

New Requirement for Regular Testing for Unvaccinated Individuals

Beginning the week of January 18th, all employees who do not meet the definition of fully vaccinated will be

required to test regularly if they are coming onsite to a DOL facility or any other in-person worksite. Employees

are considered fully vaccinated for COVID-19 two weeks after they have received the requisite number of doses of a

COVID-19 vaccine approved or authorized for emergency use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or that has

been listed for emergency use by the World Health Organization. For Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, or AstraZeneca/Oxford,

that i 2 week after an employee ha received the econd do e in a 2 do e erie For John on and John on

(J&J)/Janssen, that is 2 weeks after an employee has received a single-dose. Employees must also have uploaded their

proof of vaccination documentation to VaxTrak. However, isolation and quarantine timelines may be impacted by

additional factors such as the time elapsed since the last shot and whether a booster shot has been received. Please

refer to CDC guidelines for more information. Any employee who does not meet this definition of fully vaccinated is

required to follow the e te ting requirement regardle of whether or not they have applied or been approved for a

medical or religious accommodation.

If you are not fully vaccinated and are reporting in per on regularly or are de ignated by your agency a needing to be in

a readiness status to come onsite on short notice, then you must present a negative test result one time per week on the

same or an abutting day each week. For example, if you choose to test on Wednesdays you can test on some weeks on

Tuesdays or Thursdays if needed but not Monday or Friday. If you are only working onsite intermittently, then you are

required to have a negative test result taken within the three days prior to coming onsite.

Any FDA authorized test that includes written or electronic documentation with your name, date, and the test result is

acceptable. You should show your negative test result to your supervisor in person or via Teams. Do not submit the result

via email or otherwi e

The Department will pay for the test with a purchase card or reimburse the cost of the test using form SF-1034 if that is

not possible. You may use duty time to get tested in this case. Where more than one hour of duty time is needed,

including travel time to the test site and to return to work — as we understand may be likely in the current testing

situation — please email your supervisor to document the reason for the additional time (for example long lines, no

testing locations nearby etc.). Travel costs associated with getting to and from the testing site are also reimbursable with

prior approval from your supervisor. More details are available on LaborNet.

Testing Required in Order to Perform Job Function
If a COVID-19 test is required in order to perform your job, such as if you need a negative test result to gain access to a

non-DOL facility, then you should discuss this with your supervisor. In these cases, the Department will pay for the test

with a purchase card or reimburse the cost of the test using form SF-1034 if that is not possible. You may use duty time

to get tested in this case. Where more than one hour of duty time is needed, including travel time to the test site and to

return to work — as we understand may be likely in the current testing situation — please email your supervisor to

document the reason for the additional time (for example long lines, no testing locations nearby etc.). Travel costs

associated with getting to and from the testing site are also reimbursable with prior approval from your supervisor. More

details are available on LaborNet.

Travel

As a reminder, travel remains limited to mission critical trips until the start of Phase 1. If you are traveling, however, you

may pay for any required or CDC recommended testing using your travel card or seek reimbursement using form SF1034. More details are available on LaborNet.

Questions? View the LaborNet page or email us at 

Posted: January 12, 2022