Coronavirus Update 10-30-2020: I’m tired

As we round the corner to month eight of "living with COVID-19," I thought now is a good time to ask everyone, "How are you doing?"

Me? I'm tired.

Coronavirus Update 10-29-2020: The Dodgers might be World Series winners, but they’re COVID-19 losers

Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series. In the 8th inning of their clinching game 6, the Dodgers pulled third baseman Justin Turner from the game. No one knew why at the time. It was only after the game that it was announced that the team pulled Turner because he had tested positive for COVID-19. 

Why then was Turned allowed to join his team on the field (maskless no less) to celebrate their victory?!

Coronavirus Update 10-28-2020: The 10th nominee for the “worst employer of 2020” is … the whistleblower whacker

SHRM, the Society for Human Resource Management, describes itself as "the foremost expert, convener, and thought leader on issues impacting today's evolving workplaces." Physician, heal thyself!

According to a recent lawsuit filed against SHRM (as reported by The New Yorker), SHRM may have a huge whistleblower retaliation problem on its hands.

Time to make sure your business has an Election Day plan. #vote

Election Day is in seven days. By all predictions, this election will see a record number of voters. As long as Election Day remains a working day, employees will show up to work late, leave work early, or take long lunches, just so that they can vote.

Please make sure your employees have sufficient time to do so. For starters, it's important that employees are able to exercise their voting rights. Secondly, at least here in Ohio, it's the law.

Results—Would you boycott a business based on the candidate it supports? #vote

The results are. Thank you to the 244 of you took the time to answer my question: Would you boycott a business based on the candidate whom it (or, more accurately, its ownership) supports for President in this election?

The results:

Yes = 58.6%
No = 41.4%

Coronavirus Update 10-23-2020: Please stop telling me that we all just need to get on with living our lives

Earlier this week, I posed what I thought was a simple question on the private Facebook page of my community's homeowners' association: given the current rise of COVID-19 cases, should we, as a community, rethink our trick-or-treating plans. It was intended to start a generative discussion about whether we can host public trick-or-treating safely, but it quickly devolved into insults and name-calling.

The general theme of my pro-Halloween opponents was some combination of—if you don’t feel safe stay home in your basement; and we need to live our lives. People felt comfortable expressing this opinion even after others had commented about family members COVID-19 had killed. 

Coronavirus Update 10-22-2020: New CDC guidance will result in A LOT more employee absences

Yesterday, the CDC made a key update to its COVID-19 guidance. It made a significant change to the definition of "close contact."

No longer does one qualify as a "close contact" by being within 6 feet of someone for 15 continuous minutes or more. 

The CDC now defines "close contact" as:

Someone who was within 6 feet of an infected person for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period (individual exposures added together over a 24-hour period) starting from 2 days before illness onset (or, for asymptomatic patients, 2 days prior to test specimen collection) until the time the patient is isolated."

Would you boycott a business based on the candidate it supports?

Over the weekend I got into an interesting discussion on Twitter with a couple of my favorite musicians, Brendon Benson and Caitlin Rose. Here's the question:

would you boycott an artist or actor based on the candidate for whom their voting, in this POTUS election?

— Brendan Benson (@brendanbensongs) October 18, 2020

I'd like to expand this topic further and ask, Would you boycott a business based on the candidate whom it (or more accurately, its owner) supports for president in this election? 

PLEASE don’t tell your employees which candidate to vote for

This post at the Evil HR Lady Facebook group caught my attention yesterday:

Florida company's president warns employees their jobs could be in danger if Trump loses election

Coronavirus Update 10-19-2020: The 10th nominee for the “worst employer of 2020” is … the callous car dealer

I continue to shake my head at the callousness of employers during this pandemic. Consider this example from The Oregonian, which earns its spot as the 10th nominee for the Worst Employer of 2020.  

A finance manager at a used car dealership in Portland was fired by his boss during a staff meeting for questioning the company’s alleged cover-up of a coronavirus cluster, a lawsuit claims.  

Coronavirus Update 10-16-2020: The benefit of being prepared

When you get the call, you better be prepared. This maxim holds true in business, in the law, and in life in general.

Our favorite local wine bar has been hosting outdoor, socially distant concerts since shortly after the State of Ohio allowed it to reopen. Last Friday, their booked artist canceled last minute, which led to a 4:00 pm phone call for Norah to fill in. 

I had to quickly work through the stress of a 14-year-old who did not know if she could pull off a three-hour solo gig on 90 minutes' notice. I reminded her that she's spent the last six months writing originals and playing covers in her bedroom, in the backyard, and on Zoom for the Rockin' the Suburbs "Friday Night Hootenanny." Thus, she made her setlist, we packed her gear into the car, and off we went.

What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate

An employee suffers an injury that prevents her from operating a motor vehicle. With no means of transportation to travel to and from her workplace, the employee calls off work, believing that her absences were excused. They weren't, and the employer fires her for excessive absences.

She sues, claiming disability discrimination, in part because of the company's failure to accommodate her inability to drive.

Coronavirus Update 10-14-2020: Reporting an employee who tests positive

When an employee tests positive, an employer has certain reporting obligations. These obligations fall into two categories—reporting to OSHA and reporting to your state or local health agency under state law.

OSHA

While OSHA has remained largely silent on mandates for businesses related to COVID-19, it has published specific guidance on when an employer must record and report COVID cases at work.

Coronavirus Update 10-13-2020: You are doing something very, very wrong if your employees are terrified to come to work

According to Deadspin, NFL players are terrified of COVID, but are afraid to speak up for fear of angering the NFL.

"I looked at my son. I looked at my family, and I just didn't think it was worth it," Jaguars player Lerentee McCray, a seven-year veteran, told me this summer after opting out. "I could catch it and bring it home to them. Or I can get it and even if it doesn't kill me, it could destroy my career long-term. I feel really weird not playing football right now, but can't. I can't risk doing something so dangerous and maybe hurting the people I love."

In the end, most players decided the money was worth the risk. So, they play.

Yet there's been a definite shift in that attitude over the past few months and even weeks, several told me in various interviews, as the virus spreads through locker rooms. Most requested anonymity for fear of angering NFL owners and the league office.

Why I call myself the 'Master of Workplace Schadenfreude'

If you and I are connected on LinkedIn (and if we're not, please correct that mistake immediately), you may have noticed that my headline describes me as a the "Master of Workplace Schadenfreude." 

I'm often asked, "Jon, what the heck does that mean?" Today, I have the answer.

People I don’t understand

Earlier this week I saw the following (brilliant) ad put out by a group calling itself Dog Lovers For Joe.

It reminded me of a list I've been compiling for the past several years. I had originally called it "People I Don't Trust." Subsequently, however, I've swapped "trust" for "understand."

Coronavirus Update 10-8-2020: Crying “discrimination” because you refuse to wear a mask isn’t just silly, it’s offensive

Please watch this short video and then let's talk.

Entitled anti-masker says "I am discriminated against every single day in my county now... sometimes multiple times a day." GOOD pic.twitter.com/WmCWlAaDqD

— Fifty Shades of Whey (@davenewworld_2) October 6, 2020

This woman claims discrimination because she refuses to wear a mask in public. 

Coronavirus Update 10-7-2020: Could White House employees file an OSHA complaint?

Monday night saw President Donald Trump dramatically return to the White House after his three-day stay at Walter Reed Medical Center for COVID-19. We saw Marine One land on the White House lawn, President Trump emerge and walk up the stairs to the White House, remove his mask for a photo op, enter his home with his mask still in his pocket, reemerge for a reshoot, and again enter the White House maskless.

It's that last part I want to talk about. HuffPost asks if White House employees could lodge an OSHA complaint about the President's COVID recklessness? I'd answer that question with a solid and resolute "thumb's up." The bigger question, however, is whether OSHA would do anything about it.

Coronavirus Update 10-6-2020: Fired for COVID-19, or fired for irresponsibility

Prada v. Trifecta Productions, filed a few weeks ago in federal court in Ann Arbor, Michigan, asks whether an employer can legally fire an employee with COVID-19 based on the perception that the employee's out-of-work activities placed the business at risk.

The facts are fairly simple. Nicolas Prada, worked as a waiter and assistant manager at Tomukun Noodle Bar. On  June 24, 2020, he began experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and stayed home from work. He tested positive three days later. After 14 days of isolation, Prada texted his employer about being medically cleared to return to work. 

Coronavirus Update 10-5-2020: Your employees should never learn about positive test from anyone but you

Ninety percent of the [White House] complex most certainly learned about it in the news, as has been the case ever since. There are reports that COVID is spreading like wildfire through the White House. There are hundreds and hundreds of people who work on-complex, some who have families with high-risk family members. Since this whole thing started, not one email has gone out to tell employees what to do or what's going on.

– Anonymous White House Senior Official

If your employees are learning about a positive COVID-19 diagnosis from anyone other than from an official communication from you as their employer, you have failed in your duty as their employer.