COVID has changed the employment landscape in the last few years and will continue to have an impact for years to come.  With over 81 million people diagnosed with COVID, according to the AMA, it is estimated that 10-30% of those patients will develop residual symptoms or medical complications, known as long COVID, for months or years to come.

Long COVID can be a life-changing disability

Employees may unknowingly be suffering from symptoms that can impact their ability to work such as chronic fatigue, brain fog, mental illness, chronic shortness of breath, migraines, and other complex medical issues.  COVID is not just a respiratory disease, but a multi-systemic inflammatory disease, and employers need to understand their social and legal obligations to their employees. Failure to understand these obligations can be costly to employers directly from discrimination lawsuits, workplace injuries or other liability for other accidents caused by employees or product liability from substandard production, as well as, indirectly in the costs to re-hire or retrain.  Employers may have made it through the COVID shutdowns and disruption from COVID in 2020 and 2021, but long COVID can result in continued disruptions and financial implications long into the future.