Essay Sample on Employee Rights during COVID 19 Pandemic

Employees inevitably providing essential services will have to continue working even under the difficult circumstances caused by Covid-19. During this period, employers are expected to provide protection and incentives to their workers. The biggest challenge to employees during the pandemic has been how to voice out their concerns and ensure that their grievances are acted upon. Some employers have taken advantage of the situation to infringe on employee rights.

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Social distancing regulations have made it difficult for employees to take part in organized protests. Some employees have also become victims of wage cuts and rescheduling of working hours. There have also been massive walkouts, and essential workers such as those involved in home deliveries have recently held protests to demand protection in their work environment and better remunerations. Health professionals warn that this could be a looming crisis as more people could get infected during the protests. Since everyone is afraid of getting infected employees chose to contend with the unfavourable working conditions or face termination of their employment.

Protests and demonstrations are protected under the law, and employees are allowed to come together and speak in one voice against any unfair treatment. Employees have been at crossroads on whether to risk losing their jobs and get ill or walk out and stay safe. Companies such as American apparel have remained open to create masks that are essential personal protection equipment. Employees working in the organization have come out to say that the company has not performed proper cleaning of the premises even after two workers tested positive while working at the plant ( https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/19/strikes-erupt-us-essential-workers-demand-better-protection-amid-pandemic).

The affected sectors are health, food processing, retails and home delivery companies. Despite this company making millions of dollars, they have remained adamant about providing for their employees’ safety, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. One employee was quoted saying that “we workers are going on strike because most multimillion companies do not care about our safety” (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/19/strikes-erupt-us-essential-workers-demand-better-protection-amid-pandemic ). It is challenging to hold protest matches and maintain social distancing. Therefore many unions have resolved to use social media platforms to mobilize employees so that they can stand up for their rights.

American Apparel, Amazon and Uber are some of the largest companies that have been on the receiving end of claims that they are not doing enough to protect their employees during the pandemic (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/19/strikes-erupt-us-essential-workers-demand-better-protection-amid-pandemic). Health organizations have advised people with pre-existing conditions to stay at home since they are more susceptible to the virus. Even though these employees have formally filed for sick leave from their employer, most of them claim that they have to go with no pay. This is contrary to the law because employees are entitled to a considerable percentage of their pay even when they are on sick leave.

The disheartening part is that the companies keep off whenever sought to comment on the issues. Employees who try to organize protests find themselves on the wrong side and are threatened with immediate termination of employment. The Amazon company fired one of its employees for organizing protests in the company premises when he was supposed to be on self-quarantine. The employees were protesting against the company’s failure to implement proper measures to keep the employees safe. The fired employee came out to say that the company had committed an unfair practice by terminating his employment. The employee claimed that the company was trying to keep the employees silent so that they do not voice out their concerns (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15HUGc7R8hw). This is the situation faced by most employees during the pandemic, but they cannot voice them out because they will risk losing their jobs.

Works Cited

Essential-workers: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/19/strikes-erupt-us-essential-workers-demand-better-protection-amid-pandemic

Gostin, Lawrence O., and Lindsay F. Wiley. "Governmental public health powers during the COVID-19 pandemic: Stay-at-home orders, business closures, and travel restrictions." JAMA (2020).

Employee rights-https://wamaeallen.com/employee-rights-and-guarantees-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/Christian smalls Interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15HUGc7R8hwWorkplace safety du- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxUEz1SDuhc.