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Chief Medical Advisor to the president, Dr. Anthony Fauci, says the highly transmissible COVID-19 variant Omicron “will find just about everybody.”
But instead of company closures to protect workers, staff, and customers, restaurants are staying open – at the expense of their employees AND customers.
Red Lobster is a powerful example. As many as 63% of employees have been forced to work while sick, and just 12% have access to paid sick leave.
The problem is widespread across the service industry. About 25% of workers have no access to paid sick leave at all, with the lowest-income workers getting the least.
Without any, or enough, paid sick leave, workers are forced to choose between going without pay, losing their jobs, or working while sick. It’s especially difficult when prices are hitting an all-time high.
Working while sick, especially during a global pandemic, is a major health violation – but it's also bad for business. People can’t work efficiently if they aren’t feeling well, and they could spread illness to their coworkers and customers – making the problem worse.
More people will continue to get sick if productivity keeps being valued over people’s well-being.
The lack of universal paid sick leave in the United States contributes to the spread of the virus – and shows how little our economic system cares about our health and well-being.