Food, retail, and other service workers are particularly vulnerable to coronavirus and other harmful pathogens. They cannot simply “work from home”; they must travel to work and interact with the public in order to maintain their income. Further, because these jobs typically pay low wages, workers tend to be particularly financially precarious. While workers in our state benefit from paid sick leave and paid family and medical leave, this time is relatively limited and has to be accrued before it can be used, so there are still scenarios where workers may face the tough choice to go to work sick or stay home without pay. Seeing a doctor can be a challenge as well; service workers are also less likely than other workers to have a quality, affordable medical plan.
As coronavirus (and associated panic) spreads, it is expected that increasing numbers of people will be placed in quarantine, and that schools may close. While service sector employers alone do not have the power alone to halt this epidemic, there are things they can do to slow the spread of the virus and mitigate the impact on workers.
Here’s what service sector employers can do:
Employers must be transparent with workers about risks as they learn about them, and about any steps being taken to keep workers and customers safe.
Employers must ensure appropriate personal protective equipment is provided to all workers, particularly those who are responsible for cleaning and disinfecting areas open to the public.
Employers must explicitly allow workers to use paid sick time preventively if they are concerned about a potential exposure, face particular health risks, or if they have to care for family members due to a school closure.
Employers must allow workers to “go negative” on their paid sick time and/or create shared leave banks so that nobody is compelled to work sick or to otherwise not care for themselves or their families due to financial concerns.
Employers must waive any policies requiring workers to produce a doctor’s note if they use sick time. This is already the law in Washington for absences of three days or less, but companies can extend this practice for longer leaves in order to allow medical providers to focus on those who need care rather than those whose employers need documentation.
Employers must not discipline or terminate workers who happen to contract coronavirus. Workers should be permitted to return to work when recovered.
Employers must take affirmative steps to communicate policies of zero tolerance for discrimination and harassment based on perceived racial identity, nation of origin, or any other basis.
The government has a role to play as well:
The state must act urgently and immediately to end the current backlog for processing paid family and medical leave claims, including by releasing additional state funds to do so under the state of emergency declared by Governor Inslee. Workers must have immediate access to this insurance program if it is to serve its function during this period.
The state must clarify that workers are allowed to immediately access paid family and medical leave in the event that they are placed under quarantine and unable to work, without additional documentation requirements. Paid family and medical leave benefits must also be made available to workers who have to stay home to care for family members due to a school closure. On March 6th, Seattle’s Office of Labor Standards clarified that paid sick time can be used in such circumstances; we hope to see the state take similar action.
The state must ensure that any workers quarantined due to on-the-job exposure to coronavirus can receive workers compensation benefits for that time. On March 3rd, the state acted to implement this policy for healthcare workers and first responders. This is an excellent step that should be replicated to cover food & retail workers, and any other worker exposed to coronavirus on the job.
The state must allow workers to immediately collect unemployment benefits for lost income if their workplaces are temporarily closed due to coronavirus, or if their hours are reduced due to coronavirus. Workers should not be required to pass through the “waiting week” otherwise required, or to document a job search during this period. An emergency fund should be created to pay similar benefits to any worker who would otherwise not be eligible for regular unemployment benefits for any reason. These enhanced benefits can be paid if necessary through the release of additional state funds under the state of emergency declared by Governor Inslee.
The state must ensure companies fulfill that their obligation under the law to maintain a safe & healthy workplace, including by following recommendations from public health officials to reduce the spread of the virus.
The state must mandate that testing for coronavirus be available to the public as recommended by healthcare providers, without any associated cost for the test. On March 3, the state insurance commissioner implemented this policy.
The state must consider the specific conditions faced by service workers when making public health recommendations.
We all have a role to play in limiting the spread of coronavirus. We urge employers and the state to heed these recommendations to step up and do right by workers, customers, and the community at large. And we urge any workers who have questions about their rights at work to contact fairworkcenter.org