dear little one: Unfortunately, now that our staff have returned to the office, we have discovered that something else has also returned – bed bugs! Word gets around and people freak out. Based on where we found them, we believe we can identify the employee who brought them into the workplace. What do we do now? As a result, I almost miss Zoom meetings.
– Disgusted in Denver
Dear disgusted in Denver,
First of all, try not to panic. Bed bugs can be an annoying nuisance, but they are common and generally harmless to humans. In fact, I get this question a lot now that personal work has resumed across the country, so I can assure you that you are not alone in this awkward situation. The best approach is to learn a little more about bedbugs and then frame your response according to the circumstances. As discussed below, employers have a great deal of discretion in handling a bed bug outbreak.
Know your enemy!
While I realize you’d probably prefer not to educate yourself about bugs, it helps to understand the challenge before you. There is a lot of misconception – and a lot of unjustified stigma – surrounding bed bug infestations. Knowing what these pests do and don’t do can take away some of the fear and make it easier to fix the situation.
For example, bugs don’t jump or fly. They crawl quickly and are good at hiding. They hitchhike on people, in clothing, shoes, handbags, backpacks and other personal belongings, and that’s how they ended up at your workplace. They are mainly nocturnal.
And yes, they’re tiny vampires—bed bugs feed on human and animal blood.1 Most people who are bitten by bed bugs develop itchy welts, like spider or other insect bites. Bed bugs are important Not known to transmit diseases. Also, infestation is not related to uncleanliness. In other words, someone doesn’t end up with bugs in their house because they’re messy in some way. It just means that they were exposed to bugs somewhere (e.g. in a hotel, theater, school, public transport, etc.) and unknowingly brought in house guests. In many ways, bedbugs are similar to head lice: pretty scary, but still manageable.
On the plus side, bed bugs are visible. They are generally reddish-brown and about the size of an apple seed when fully grown.2 A flashlight and magnifying glass can be helpful when hunting the little critters. When looking for evidence of an infestation, employers should consider where bugs are likely to hide: in the folds and seams of chairs, between cushions, lockers, booth walls, corners, baseboards, electrical outlets, under wall hangings, in stacks of paper, and in similar nooks and crannies angles. If a live bug is found, employers are encouraged to capture it in a container or plastic bag rather than crush it so that it can be properly identified by a pest controller.
Understand your legal obligations – or lack thereof
With this happy background in mind, let’s turn to the legal and practical issues. There are currently no federal or state labor laws governing an employer’s response to a bedbug infestation. Approximately half of the states have statutes addressing the responsibilities of hoteliers and/or landlords upon detection of bed bugs, but no such statutes have been passed addressing an employer’s responsibilities.
Additionally, this scenario does not fall directly under civil rights or health and safety laws that may already apply to employers. For example, employer obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act would not be triggered by an infestation because having bed bugs is not a disability. Likewise, employees who need time off to deal with the extermination in their home or apartment would not be protected under the Family and Sick Leave Act because bed bugs are not a serious health concern. The Occupational Safety and Health Act does not specifically cover bed bug hazards, although it generally requires employers to provide a workplace that is kept reasonably free from insects and other vermin. While bed bugs may not be as dangerous on their own, employers should exercise caution when using pesticides or other chemicals.
Prepare and coordinate your response
In the absence of a legal framework, the actual task of the employer is to combat bed bug infestations in a targeted, consistent and fair manner towards those affected. Employers should immediately contact a certified pest controller to confirm the presence of bugs and plan an appropriate disposal process.
For many employers, the staffing issues are just as annoying as the parasite issues. To begin with, employers should give serious thought to how best to convey the situation to employees. If an employee reports to management, for example, reporting an infestation found at home, the employer can probably handle the situation more discreetly, especially if the workplace is not yet at risk.
But an employer in your situation, Disgusted in Denver, needs to address the situation more publicly. A notice to all employees – or perhaps all employees who are close to the source or on the same floor etc. depending on your office setup – may be appropriate to inform them of the presence of bed bugs and the employer’s eradication plan to explain. This notice represents a good opportunity for an employer to share facts about bed bugs (including links to the CDC or EPA websites) to counteract the stigma associated with their presence and to encourage employees to report further bed bug sightings or related ones to share concerns. When “people freak out,” as you’ve suggested, it can also be helpful to remind employees that negative or accusatory comments about co-workers are neither welcome nor productive. If your company doesn’t already have a pest infestation policy, it may be time to develop and formalize a policy.
Don’t lose sight of the big picture
When developing a response and/or adopting a policy, employers often wonder how far they should go to support workers dealing with an infestation at home. Can an employer require an employee to stay away from the office until the outbreak is defeated? Can an employer request a “medical certificate” from the employee’s exterminator certifying that the household infestation has been remedied? How should an employer deal with the time off employees take to fight bed bugs at home? Should an employer pay for the destruction of an employee’s household or vehicle? These questions often boil down to weighing the cost of support against the benefit to the employer. In considering these options, employers should remember that they set a precedent.
Because employers have significant discretion in this situation, they can require an employee to take a leave of absence until the infestation is resolved or allow them to work from home, if possible, until the situation is resolved.3 You may also require the worker to present evidence of control by a reputable pest controller prior to returning to work.
Accordingly, an employer could choose to pay the regular wages of non-exempt workers who are sent home or choose to stay at home and not work, even though those workers would not otherwise be entitled to compensation for hours not worked. (Exempt workers are subject to different rules and generally should not be paid for absences of less than a full work week.) Alternatively, employers could allow workers to use accrued vacation or other paid time off to clean up an infestation at home. If the employer chooses the latter option, they may need to relax certain requirements of their attendance and leave policies, e.g.
When deciding how to proceed, employers should consider how their messages may be received by staff. If an employer sends a worker home until an infestation is cleaned up, and that leave is entirely unpaid, workers exposed in the future may be less likely to notify the employer of a household infestation. While this approach may be more cost-effective for employers, it can also make it more difficult to combat ongoing or future outbreaks.
Employers should conduct a similar analysis when deciding whether to subsidize the cost of household pest control for affected workers. Some employers will voluntarily pay (in whole or in part) for treatment at an employee’s home to ensure the incident is contained. Because if the employee’s home infestation is not properly cleaned up, the employer risks reinfestation in the workplace. Reinfestation means that the employer has to start from scratch and spend additional time and money on office destruction and all preventive measures.
Once an employer has decided how to combat bed bug or similar infestations, they should train management to consistently and fairly follow protocols for any future incidents. If an employee is granted paid leave and/or subsidized household cleaning, colleagues can expect similar treatment if they contract a bed bug problem. Failure to treat employees equally can lead to complaints of preferential treatment or even unlawful discrimination.
Employers faced with bed bugs are always looking for a simple solution. Overall, however, there are different approaches to the situation and employers should choose the response that makes the most sense in their circumstances. Good Luck, Disgusted in Denver!
A version of this article was originally published in 2018.
