An employer that asks staff to take an antigen self-test at home needs a way to establish that the test took place. This guide compares the five methods organisations have used, to support the selection of a method that matches the organisation's risk, budget and legal setting.
Review the applicable legal and organisational requirements
Rules differ by country. In Denmark a 2020 law let employers test staff and receive results. In the Netherlands employers may offer self-tests but not require them, and a result is shared only voluntarily. In Norway employers could not demand to see a test at all. In France employer-mandated testing is restricted and supervision was tied to health professionals. In Germany the result mattered for access rules, and only supervised self-tests counted. Whatever you build must be voluntary where the law says so, and the employee must control who sees the result.
Method 1: self-reported testing
Staff declare a negative test on a form. This method involves no cost but provides no independent verification, and every country that used it at scale documented false declarations. It is suitable only where the consequence of an incorrect answer is minor.
Method 2: photographic documentation
Staff upload a photo. Ireland's health service accepted this for staff leave. It shows a strip exists; it cannot show who tested, when, or whether the strip was theirs. Reviewing photos also creates work.
Method 3: live video supervision
A trained person watches each test over video. This is what travel-testing services sold in 2021–22 and what German rules meant by a supervised self-test. It works, and it costs a person's time for every test, so it cannot run daily across a workforce.
Method 4: on-site testing
Staff are tested by a nurse or trained colleague at work. This method is fully verifiable but the most expensive, and it requires attendance on site, which is not compatible with screening before arrival. Some clinical protocols still require it.
Method 5: remote at-home test verification
Staff test at home on camera; software verifies the procedure, ties the screening to the invited participant and issues a record, without a supervisor. This is the approach used by screenme.science. Cost is per test, and it scales to daily use across sites.
Selecting an appropriate method
Where an organisation needs to know that the invited person tested correctly at a known time, and supervision of each test is not affordable, only methods 4 and 5 meet the requirement, and only method 5 works before arrival.
Recommended considerations for programme design
Testing should be offered rather than mandated where a mandate is not permitted. Employees can choose the kit from any pharmacy, or the employer can supply one. Screening should take place before the shift rather than at the entrance. Records should be kept for the audit period and no longer. Occupational health should be involved from the start.