COVID-19 Hospital Admission Levels and Masking Requirements

The Department of Labor's COVID-19 health and safety protocols can be found in the DOL COVID-19 Workplace Safety Plan. DOL's masking requirements are aligned with guidance from the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force and tied to the three COVID-19 hospital admission levels of risk (low, medium, and high) established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC determines COVID-19 hospital admission levels by measuring the impact of COVID-19 illness on health and healthcare systems.

All Federal employees, onsite contractors, and visitors, regardless of vaccination status, must wear a high-quality mask inside of Federal buildings in areas where the COVID-19 hospital admission  level is high, or where required by local mask mandates, as further explained below. In areas deemed as low or medium COVID-19 hospital admission levels, masking will not be required regardless of vaccination status.  In areas deemed as medium COVID-19 hospital admission level, individuals who are at high risk of getting very sick or are likely to come in contact with an individual who is at high risk of getting sick, should consider wearing a high-quality mask. 

DOL employees, contractors, and visitors may choose to wear a mask regardless of hospital admission  level. Additionally,  individuals must wear high-quality masks regardless of COVID-19 hospital admission level if they have symptoms of COVID-19 for 10 days after being diagnosed with COVID-19, and for 10 days after being exposed to COVID-19.

* Additional guidance on wearing masks and other measures to protect yourself can be found on the CDC's website.

Check your COVID-19 Hospital Admission Level

The CDC updates the COVID-19 hospital admission levels for each county weekly to determine any changes that should be made to COVID-19 safety protocols for the upcoming week.  To determine the COVID-19 hospital admission level for a given area, please check the CDC COVID-19 hospital admission level weekly.  If an area's COVID-19 hospital admission level changes from one week to the next, the COVID-19 workplace safety protocols will be adjusted for the following week.  DOL employees engaged in field work can check the COVID-19 hospital admission level for that county on the CDC website.  All individuals in a DOL facility or worksite have a personal responsibility to maintain awareness of the COVID-19 hospital admission level in the county where the facility or worksite is located. 

Please be aware of the following

• DOL will also follow local mask mandates for the jurisdictions where its facilities are located, when that locality imposes more protective pandemic-related safety requirements. Therefore, if a Federal facility is located in a city, county, or state with a local mask mandate, then masks will generally be required for all employees, contractors, and visitors in that facility regardless of the COVID-19 hospital admission level.

Please contact COVID19Questions@dol.gov with any questions.

* Please note that all employees share in the responsibility for limiting the spread of COVID-19. One of the best ways to limit the transmission of the virus is to stay home if you are sick. If Federal employees, onsite contractor employees, or visitors are feeling ill, they should not enter the Federal workplace.