Employee Health / Screening
Do you have a protocol to check employee health and personal hygiene practices within your food establishment?
Are you following CDC guidance and practices for employee health checks/screenings?
Have you checked CDC and local regulatory/health authority guidance for employees returning back to work?
Is there a plan to monitor and respond to a higher than normal level of absenteeism?
Is there a plan or policy for, and an adequate supply of, personal protective equipment (PPE) and/or cloth face coverings? Cloth face coverings should only be used if PPE is not required, and changed as needed if worn.
You already know that this isn't going to be perfect, right? In the interest of full disclosure, I just have to share this with you. Yesterday was the first day that DD's employer started the part of the employee health check that consists of asking every employee if they have any of several symptoms on a checklist. DD had developed a headache, most likely from several hours of wearing the mandated mask. Thankfully, this doesn't happen every day, but it's quite a common symptom among the full-time staff. So she and another coworker (the cashier) were honest and said Yes to the headache symptom. She and the cashier were forced to clock out immediately. One of the managers was upset about being forced to do this. While DD waited for me to come and get her, she and a couple of other workers and the manager talked about some of the issues with this.
DD was already 6 1/2 hours into her shift. The cashier was 6 hours into her shift. If either of them had a real COVID-19 headache, that's a lot of exposure to other people already. The full-time workers have been getting a mask headache off and on for the last couple of weeks they've been forced to wear masks. Now if they have to say Yes every time they have a mask headache, several people will be sent home early every day for no legitimate reason, and the place will be consistently short-staffed. What if most of the staff get a mask headache on the same day? People can get occasional headaches for all sorts of reasons. Stress, allergies, etc. Maybe they need to screen at the start of the shift, before anyone gets a mask headache.
Someone asked how they're supposed to answer for shortness of breath. They're all experiencing shortness of breath while wearing the masks! Muscle pain? Bending over for long periods of time qualifies as a Yes for that. A cough? Everyone is also having dry throats since wearing a mask. Do they have to be afraid they'll be sent home if they cough because of it?
It's of extra concern because the manager said that corporate told them they're below quota on having enough full-time employees at that location as it is. They're being pressured to hire more full-timers. They've been interviewing and hiring some new people since last week. A large part of the issue is that some of their full-time employees haven't been working since the shutdowns in March. They weren't furloughed, so they haven't been getting paid to not work. They were afraid to work because of the coronavirus. It wasn't a problem when business was so slow, but now they're needed and they still won't come back to work. No clue as to whether they'll eventually find themselves off the payroll permanently.
Sometime yesterday they posted a notice on the front door, asking customers not to enter if they have any of the listed symptoms, which does include a headache. Sure. Right. But I guess it's the best they can do. DD said that if a customer has a loss of smell or taste, they probably won't want to come in and eat much anyway.
I asked her what they're supposed to do if a customer starts coughing in the dining room after it opens. Throw them out after you make sure they're not choking on food first? What if they sneeze? Oh, forget that. Sneezing isn't on the list. Protocols! We need more protocols!
BTW, DD took something for her headache and she felt fine after awhile. She's supposed to call in before the start of her next shift tomorrow to verify she doesn't have any of the symptoms on the list.
