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​Employee ​C​OVID-19 Reporting Procedures


Riverside Community College District (the District) is committed to protecting the health and safety of faculty, staff, students, and visitors. During the pandemic, timely reporting is one of the keys to preventing any further spread of COVID-19. Therefore, all employees are required to immediately report if they have tested positive for COVID-19, experienced COVID-19 symptoms , or have been identified as a close contact with an infecte​d person.​

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I. Employee COVID-19 Reporting Procedure

Employees must report any positive test/diagnosis of COVID-19, COVID-19 exposure, and/or potential COVID-19 symptoms to Risk Management by using the online reporting form. The following information is required in the report:​

  • ​Employee Name

  • Date of Birth

  • Job Title

  • Home Address

  • Phone Number

  • Department​

  • Supervisor

  • Last Date Onsite

  • How the Exposure Occurred
  • ​Any Symptoms

  • Date of Test

  • Testing Site

  • Date of Symptom Onset if Symptomatic

  • Onsite Location(s) Visited During the Infectious Period[3] (COVID-19 Positive Cases Only)

  • Onsite Close Contacts if Known (for COVID-19 Positive Case Only)​​​​

Employees will be advised of isolation/quarantine requirements, applicable leaves, and testing resources.​​


A. Notifications


1. Risk Management will notify the employee’s immediate supervisor as soon as possible via email if the employee is required to be excluded from the worksite due to COVID-19 concerns. Risk Management will not disclose any medical/diagnosis information.​
    • ​Employees will need to work with HRER for accommodation arrangements, if needed.

    • ​If the employee is a faculty member and unable to teach, they will need to work with their area Dean, Department Chair, and/or College Administration to facilitate the continuation of the class.
​​ 2. People with these symptoms may have COVID-19: Fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea. ​

3. A close contact is someone who share the same indoor airspace for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period during an infected person's infectious period is considered as a close contact ​ 

​4. Infectious Period for symptomatic infected persons is 2 days before the infected person had any symptoms through Day 10 after symptoms first appeared (or through Day 5 if testing negative on Day 5 or later), and 24 hours have passed with no fever, without the use of fever-reducing medications, and symptoms have improved. For asymptomatic infected persons, Infectious period is 2 days before the positive specimen collection date through Day 10 after positive specimen collection date (or through Day 5 if testing negative on Day 5 or later) after specimen collection date for their first positive COVID-19 test.​

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If the COVID-19 positive employee has been onsite during the infectious period, Risk Management will notify the College Director of Facilities and request a deep cleaning of the exposure area as needed.​


6. ​Risk Management will notify Riverside County Public Health of the employee’s positive case status along with, if applicable, any identified onsite close contacts.​

7. ​Risk Management will immediately notify, within one business day, the employees, their exclusive representatives, and the employer of outside contractors if they might be exposed to the COVID-19 case Per AB685 requirements.​

8. Based on the results of the COVID-19 investigation, Risk Management will immediately notify employees who may have been in close contact with a COVID-19 infected person and their exclusive representatives if the COVID-19 exposure occurs onsite.​

9. ​Risk Management would notify RCCD’s Workers’ Compensation Third Party Administrator within three business days if the laboratory confirmed COVID-19 positive employee has been working onsite within 14 days of their positive test.​
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B. Clearance/Return to Work Due to COVID-19 Infection Exposure
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​​1. ​If the employee reports COVID-19 symptoms, regardless of vaccination status or previous infection, they should self-isolate and get tested as soon as possible to determine infection status.​
  • ​​If not tested, they should continue isolating for 10 days after the day of symptom onset. The individual should remain in isolation while waiting for testing results.
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  • ​​If the test result is negative, the individual may end isolation after 24 hours have passed without fever without using fever-reducing medicine and symptoms are not present or resolving.​

  • ​An antigen test is preferred for individuals who have tested positive within the previous 90 days. They should continue self-isolation and retest in 1-2 days if testing negative with an antigen test, particularly if tested during the first 1-2 days of symptoms.​
​2. If the employee has tested POSITIVE for COVID-19, they will need to self-isolate regardless of vaccination status, previous infection, or lack of symptoms. This means that the employee will need to stay in a separate room without personal contact with others. ​
  • ​​The employee must be excluded from the workplace for at least 5 days. Day 1 is the first full day after the symptoms develop or the test specimen is collected if there are no symptoms. Isolation can end and the employee may return to the workplace after day 5 if symptoms are not present or are resolving and a diagnostic specimen collected on day 5 or later tests negative. An antigen test is preferred. ​ 

  • If the employee is unable or chooses not to test and their symptoms are not present or are resolving, isolation can end and the employee may return to the workplace after day 10. If the employee has a fever, isolation must continue and the employee may not return to work until the fever resolves. ​

  • ​If the employee's symptoms other than fever are not resolving, they may not return to work until their symptoms are resolving or until after day 10 from the positive test.​

  • The employees should wear face coverings around others for a total of 10 days after the positive test, especially in indoor settings.​​

  • ​HRER may also require the employee to provide a copy of the doctor's note to return to work per collective bargain agreements, MOUs, and/or Cal/OSHA guidance.​
Testing exemption: Previously infected individuals do not need to be tested, quarantined, or excluded from work for 90 days after the infection, as long as the employees do not develop COVID-19 symptoms. ​
​​3. ​If the employee has been EXPOSED to someone with COVID-19, the quarantine requirement depends on whether the employee experiences COVID-19 symptoms​.
  • ​Asymptomatic close contacts don't need to quarantine.

  • ​Persons infected within the prior 90 days do not need to be tested, quarantined, or excluded from work unless symptoms develop.​
  • If an exposed employee develops symptoms, they should get tested and must be excluded while the testing result is pending.​ ​
​4. ​Return-to-work Clearance - Prior clearance approval from Risk Management is required before returning to onsite work. Risk Management will notify the employee’s supervisor of the return-to-work clearance, including onsite work. ​

5. ​Potential Industrial Cases (Potential Work-related injury or illness) - If the employee has been onsite within 14 days of a positive COVID-19 test or diagnose, Risk Management will send a Workers’ Compensation claim form (DWC-1) to the employee.​

[1] ​If there is an outbreak at the work location, the employee who had close contact should not work onsite until he/she tests negative 3-5 days after the last close contact.

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