USA TODAY International Edition
What can I do to ensure a safe workplace?
Employees have the right to speak up if concerned
What if your boss won’t wear a mask?
It’s a question some may be asking in the wake of news that President Donald Trump has contracted COVID- 19.
The president has long held a dismissive attitude toward masks, seldom being seen wearing one, and as recently as Tuesday’s presidential debate mocked former Vice President Joe Biden for constantly covering his face in public.
Now Trump’s diagnosis raises a critical workplace issue: How do you confront a boss or colleagues who refuse to take precautions against COVID- 19?
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration requires employers to provide a safe workplace.
“Where it becomes fuzzy is what does that mean,” says Tracey Diamond, counsel in the labor and employment practice group at the law firm Troutman Pepper.
OSHA recommends that employers encourage their staff to cover their faces in the workplace, but that is not a mandate, according to Elissa Jessup, HR knowledge adviser for the Society for Human Resource Management ( SHRM).
“Employers ultimately have discretion, unless there are state regulations that require face masks,” Jessup says. “In those specific states, employers would be obligated to comply with those regulations.”
In June, the SHRM found that 86% of organizations were implementing or considering mandating the use of masks, gloves, and other protective equipment. And 73% were implementing or thinking about performing temperature or medical screenings on site.
If your workplace isn’t following such protocols, employees have a right to speak up and can take steps if they are worried that their colleagues aren’t doing what’s needed to keep their worksite safe.
“Employers ultimately have discretion, unless there are state regulations that require face masks. In those specific states, employers would be obligated to comply with those regulations.”
Elissa Jessup Society for Human Resource Management
Sit down with your manager
Consider bringing your concerns directly to your manager.
“The first course of action is to try to sit down with the employer ... and discuss that it’s making them uncomfortable that the workplace is not following ( Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) guidance, or local or state guidance or mandates,” says Diamond.
Before having that conversation, familiarize yourself with what your city or state is recommending or requiring. A Google search for COVID- 19 standards or a check of OSHA’s website can be helpful.
Head to HR
If you are uncomfortable talking to your manager, or nothing changes after your discussion, head to your company’s HR department.
Under OSHA rules, your employer can’t retaliate against you for making a complaint.
Request accommodation
If an employee has a health condition or disability, the Americans with Disabilities Act allows them to ask for accommodation that could enhance their safety.
“Those kinds of requests are handled on a case- by- case basis and are dependent on the facts of the situation,” Diamond says.
But accommodation could include being allowed to work from home, being isolated from colleagues in an office, or even a leave of absence.
File a complaint
If your concerns aren’t being addressed, file a complaint with OSHA, which will typically alert your employer and will sometimes even visit the workplace for an investigation, Diamond says.
An employee could also register a complaint with the local health department or state attorney general’s office.