Tyson reinstates policy that penalizes absentee workers
Tyson Foods Inc., the biggest U.S. meat processor, will return to its pre-COVID19 absentee policy, which includes punishing workers for missing work due to illness, the company confirmed in a statement to Bloomberg.
“We’re reinstating our standard attendance policy,” Tyson spokesperson Gary Mickelson said in an email. “But our position on COVID19 has not changed: Workers who have symptoms of the virus or have tested positive will continue to be asked to stay home and will not be penalized. They will also continue to qualify for shortterm disability pay so they can continue to be paid while they’re sick.”
In mid-March, Tyson said that it was “relaxing attendance policies in our plants by eliminating any punitive effect for missing work due to illness.” That will no longer be the case, as the company shifts back to its usual policy that discourages absenteeism through a point system.
Some of America’s largest meat suppliers reopened plants recently after a wave of coronavirus outbreaks forced temporarily closures in April, withering available supplies at grocery stores and driving up retail prices for beef and pork. While companies, including Tyson, have taken measures such as increasing handwashing stations, distributing face shields and doing temperature checks, experts and unions warn that workers are still being put in harm’s way in the name of food security as packers seek to boost output.
Physical distancing is nearly impossible in plants that operate processing lines at very fast speeds. There have been at least 44 meatpacking worker deaths and over 3,000 workers testing positive for COVID-19, according to estimates from United Food & Commercial Workers International Union.
On Tuesday, Tyson confirmed 591 positive COVID19 cases out of 2,303 tested employees at its Storm Lake, Iowa, plant, which was shuttered last week.
Limited production at the facility resumed Wednesday.