Friday, October 9, 2020

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."

Thursday, October 8, 2020

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.

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

Wednesday, October 7, 2020

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.

Tuesday, October 6, 2020

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. 

Monday, October 5, 2020

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.


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. 

Friday, October 2, 2020

Friday follow-up: Covid quarantine/isolation, politics at work, and crab people


With the shocking news that Donald and Melenia Trump have tested positive for COVID-19 (along with Hope Hicks, one of Trump's top advisors and key inner-circle members), I thought it is a good time to review the CDC's rules for quarantine (how long you must stay away from others when you've been exposed to someone with Covid) and isolation (how you must stay away from others when you have Covid).

Thursday, October 1, 2020

7 tips to manage political discussions at work


Did you watch the Presidential Debate Tuesday night? Do you think it showcased the best of America? If you do, I think you were tuned to the wrong channel. In fact, I'd argue that it was the low point of American presidential campaign history, if not all of Amerian presidential history.

Our country is broken. We are more divided than we have been in 155 years. This division also exists among your employees. Approximately half will be Red/Republican/Trump and the other approximate half will be Blue/Democrat/Biden. Given our 24/7 news cycles, social media, and the overall unavoidability of this election, these issues will bleed into discussions among your employees at work, and outside of work on social media and otherwise.