Report Sample on Employment Laws in the COVID-19 Era

Introduction

The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) of 1970 assure the safety and healthy working conditions for working men and women by authorizing enforcement under the act (Kramer & Kramer, 2020). The law assists and encourages states in their endeavors towards safety assurance and a healthy working condition by providing research, education, and occupational safety and health training. Accordingly, OSHA offers guidelines and resources for workers and employers on the control and prevention of COVID-19. The guidelines lower the risks of airline operation, border protection, business travelers, food industry, dentistry, and warehouses, among other business aspects. Amazon is one of the companies facing litigation issues due to violation of employee statues in matters concerning COVID-19. Therefore, this study focuses on the research results for articles discussing OSHA laws and employment issues facing Amazon Company in this COVID-19 era and similar issues facing other companies.

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Amazon's Employment Law Issues

Following the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) has made various recommendations to employers to reduce the risk of transmission of the virus in workplaces. Mainly, this includes enhanced cleaning in places of work, hygiene practices, hand washing and use of sanitizers, and encouraging sick workers to remain at home. The public health personnel has encouraged the employers to establish social distancing in workplaces by adopting telework, staggered shifts, and increased physical space among the staff. Notably, most of the staff members have various employees working from home, especially those working in Amazon headquarters (Stubbs, 2020). However, the employees working at the warehouses have to report to work and complete their duties.

The safety of the workers in Amazon is an issue of public health. Failure of the amazon Company to keep the worker's safe endangers the staff's lives and puts the entire country at risk. The virus that causes COVID-19 can live for over 24 hours on cardboard and three days on plastic and steel. Amazon is said to have violated the occupational and safety health laws governing companies and their employees. Similarly, Stubbs (2020) indicated that Amazon had attracted scrutiny for its lackadaisical operations amid the COVID-19 crisis. After the outbreak of coronavirus in the United States in March, the warehouse workers at Amazon were the first to raise the alarm on their safety. The distribution centers were crowded, and the employees lacked protective gear. The employees who complained against the company were at risk of termination. From this, there is no doubt that Amazon, the leading company in e-commerce, is facing unprecedented business disruptions due to the ravaging pandemic. The crisis has shown the contingency holes in the company's supply chains that have provided a standard action room.

Employment Law Statues in This COVID-19 Era

Accordingly, Michaels and Wagner (2020) indicated that the United States' coronavirus disease had caused a massive safety crisis in workplaces. Most workers are at risk of exposure to COVID-19 as they conduct their daily functions and interact with others in public. The law of the United States requires the workplaces to be free from any recognizable hazards. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) are in charge of enforcing this law. OSHA could significantly contribute to reversing the spread of COVI-19 hence mitigating risk to workers, their families, and communities. Michaels and Wagner (2020) asserted that the United States' federal government had not enforced OSHA's law in its efforts towards reducing the risks of COVID-19.

Barnes and Sax (2020) indicated that estimates from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that the SARS-COV-2 virus has infected over 150,000 hospitals and nursing staff while over 700 have succumbed to the disease. With the spread of the epidemic, workers in different industries are contracting the disease. Mainly, this includes emergency responders, correctional officers, transit employees, and workers in meat and poultry farms. Besides, the virus has hurt the people of color, the aged, and those with underlying medical conditions. The deaths resulting from the virus emanate due to poor housing conditions and unregulated employment patterns.

The primary source of SARS-COV-2 virus exposure among employees is their workplace, where the design measures exclude social distancing, personal protective equipment, sanitation, and ventilation measures (McKibbin & Fernando, 2020). The employees often travel to their places of work in crowded public transportation means. With the spread of the virus, all workers in all the industries should be protected. Unprotected staff is unknowingly plausible to bringing the virus from their works to homes and communities hence setting back the progress made towards lowering the spread of infection and rebuilding the economy. Michaels and Wagner (2020) asserted that the OSHA, a leading government agency in fostering safety, has not fulfilled its mandate effectively.

Workplaces Safety

OSHA’s responsibility is not making workplaces safe. Enhancing safety is the mandate of all the employees. By law, a worker has the right to protection in a place of work. The mission of ISHA is to protect the right of the staff by ensuring that employers minimize the incidences of hazards that could harm the workers and increase the risks of injuries. According to McKibbin and Fernando (2020), until businesses are confident that employees, contractors, and service personnel venturing in workplaces are not spreading the virus, a series of preventive measures should be employed. Every workplace should have an articulate COVID-19 guideline and plan that includes scheduling workplace design to avoid overcrowding instances. When needed, ventilation and sanitation measures are required. Screening programs are also useful in identifying any COVID-19 symptoms among the workers to prevent the virus’s spread.

Employers are dependent on the controls stipulated by OSHA if they are mandated by a government agency that has enforcement tools to facilitate compliance. However, worker protection has not been the main objective of the task force for handling the coronavirus situation. As businesses continue to reopen, the lack of effective control of exposure to the virus among the staff is associated with disease outbreaks. The OSHA and CDC have issued recommendations for protecting the workers (Fagan & Hodgson, 2017). Voluntary submissions are not enough means and channels of implementing adequate protection. In addition to that, the United States’ labor secretary claimed that it is enough for the OSHA agency to use the existing standards and a generalized requirement that employers maintain safe workplaces.

Currently, OSHA lacks enough tools to address the risk of exposure in workplaces hence explaining the situation at Amazon Company. Fagan and Hodgson (2017)stipulated that enforceable standards are the most effective tools corporations can deploy to protect workers. Additionally, the federal government’s significant action is for the ISHA agency to issue an ETS (Emergency Temporary Standard) that would require employers to develop and implement a control plan. Such an effort could be of profound benefit to the agency’s present recommendations, which could serve as the basis of a countrywide ETS. Meeting the requirements stipulated in the ETS and the testing recommended for corporations’ reopening increase employers’ costs. Yearby and Mohapatra (2020) indicated that employers who invest in those efforts should not be disadvantaged in the competition, emphasizing federal subsidies’ importance to actualize these efforts. From this assessment of the employment status in this COVId-19 era, one can see the OSHA standards’ failures and successes in enhancing workplace safety. Some of these factors can explain why several companies face litigation and lawsuits such as Amazon due to their ignorance on worker’s protection against the SARS-COV-2 virus.

Employment Law Issue

Most of the employers across the United States of America may face legal issues as they deal with the reopening and maintaining businesses in this COVID-19 pandemic. Over 2,000 lawsuits related to COVID-19 and employment law have been filed in federal and state courts (Fasih et al., 2020). Notably, by mid-June, more than 230 lawsuits filed directly to labor and employment courts due to employment laws violations (Repko, 2020). As the pandemic circumstances continue to evolve, employers should be wary of the new laws that federal and state governments have enforced.

Wal-Mart is one of the organizations that has faced lawsuits following the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the employees at Wal-Mart in Illinois died from complications resulting from COVID-19 (Repko, 2020). However, the staff had told the store managers that he had COVID-19-like symptoms. However, the managers ignored his claims. In a statement defending its actions, Wal-Mart indicated some of the safety measures it had undertaken and aired condolences to the families of the associates who succumbed to the disease. The lawsuit filed against the company alleges that Wal-Mart was negligent since it did not enforce COVID-19 measures such as regular cleaning of the stores, enforcement of social distancing, notification of employees about the colleagues having COVID-like symptoms, and wearing of protective gears such as masks and gloves (Repko, 2020).

In its defense, the retailer shop claimed that it cleaned the stores even though the employees charged with that mandate were unavailable for over a week. Moreover, the company asserted that it had hired a company to clean the store and contracted a health officer to inspect it. The corporation also stipulated that it increased the firm’s safety measures by adding sneeze guards at cash registers (Repko, 2020). The company was ready to respond to the issues alleged upon them after being served with a court complaint. Notably, the case charges facing Wal-Mart are similar to that of Amazon. The primary problem is that in the two cases, the employers did not abide by the regulations laid out by OSHA on curtailing the spread of COVID-19 in workplaces. No verdict has been issued yet on Wal-Mart’s case. However, from Wal-Mart’s scenario, it is clear that companies were not prepared to handle the adverse effects that COVID-19 has had in workplaces.

Conclusion

Almost all consumer-facing businesses are affected by shelter-in-place orders, supply chain challenges, and new uses for products and services in a socially-distanced community. Most individuals are struggling to adapt to a new normal due to the adverse effects that the lockdown has created among the people. In the face of the challenging circumstances, corporations must take a systematic technique and exercise diligence in following the steps required for the attainment of a fast resolution. A prepared business can respond faster without endangering itself to the threats of lawsuits. Companies are at risk of potential liability in these uncertain times of COVID-19.

In a bid to prevent similar lawsuits, companies should undertake different measures to abide by the COVID-19 laws and regulations. A company’s state of mind can provide the support required for implementing individual decisions hence explaining the importance of sobriety in enforcing COVID-19 rules in workplaces.