Research Paper Sample on Employment Law Issues

Introduction

Many companies are not reliable when an employee is at work because of the high legal bar that finds the faults to limit demanding compensation (McCaffrey, 2012). The policy also restricts the payments based on the worker's medical bills and salary. However COVID-19 pandemic has revered the trend after the legal experts realized that the liability lawsuits are filing against the employers because most of them have ignored the federal and state guidance to combat the virus's spread through physical distancing and the wearing of face masks (McCaffrey, 2012). The paper will elaborate more on embracing the OSHA regulations to Safeway and Albert Son company.

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Issues

Under the law firm of Hunton Andrews, Kurth, more than 70 employees and the labor lawsuits have argued that the workers are potentially exposed or were already exposed to COVID-19 (Osano, 2013). For instance, the lawsuit was fined against Albertson and Safeway companies after Pedro Zuniga died from COVID-19. Pedro was a worker of the safe distribution branch in California (Meza, 2020). According to the family lawyer, Pedro and other workers complained about unsafe environments because a few workers reported working when they were sick.

In March 2020, the company wrote a memo to the employees claiming that the mask would not protect them from an infected person's respiratory drops caused by coughing if they re healthy. Before Pedro died, he had gone to hospital when he was unwell and tested positive for the COVID-19 virus (Meza, 2020). Pedro was taken to the intensive care unit and later to the ventilator after going into a coma the following day. After eight days, Pedro was announced dead (Meza, 2020).

According to the lawsuit's claims, Safeway never followed the Occupational Safety and Health Administration guidance by isolating sick workers (Dionísio et al., 2018). The lawsuit also added that the company never guided the workers but misled them by telling its employees that the mask will not protect them from COVID-19.

When the claims were raised on Safeway, they denied it, arguing that the state of California or the CDC never asked people to wear masks. The company also added that when the state officials did an inspection, they found that safety did not violate the coronavirus guidance. However, the specific law that Safeway failed to follow was the one issued by OSHA on protecting employees' lives while at work.

Updated Guidance

After 30 years of operation, OSHA has updated its guidance to reflect on the workplaces' changes, economy, and evolving health and safety concerns (Dionísio et al., 2018). Most stakeholders have also embraced new practices because they are designed to fit various medium-sized and small business settings.

Every company must follow the new practices step-by-step to implement the health and safety program because they align with the seven core elements to make the policy successful (Rodriguez, 2016). The new practice's primary idea is to prevent workplace deaths, injuries, and illnesses, and the financial hardship and suffering workers go through.

The new practices follow the proactive approach to manage workplace health and safety measures. The traditional practices are reactive to ensure that any sick or injured employee will be protected by the new regulation or standards (Rodriguez, 2016). The best recommendation to many companies is to recognize the fixing and finding hazards because a company causes illness or injury using the practical approach.

The best way is by using simple goals and basic programs then adjust to the new rules. When the employer focuses on achieving the company goals, evaluating outcomes, and monitoring performance, the workers will progress to higher levels to achieve health and Safety (Rodriguez, 2016).

Albertson and Safeway Structure

The Alberton company consists of 2,200 stores that have hired more than 270,00 customers, with millions of customers that go to the stores because of the healthy planet, thriving communities, and good food (Alberton et al., 2013). The company ensures that high standards are maintained through community engagement, workplace excellence, and sustainable products. The company is also committed to advancing inclusion and diversity to ensure that everyone (neighborhood, employees, and customers) is treated with respect, dignity, and courtesy by ensuring equal access to the opportunities, products, and resources (Alberton et al., 2013). The company is proud of their work and the products they offer to the customers every day. The company also promises to do the right things by being accountable for the right reasons.

Alternative Solution

In America, the retail chains, warehouses, and grocery stores remained open in this pandemic but have no idea how they will retain their employees' safety (Kandoi, M., & Banerjee, 2020). Companies like Amazon and Walmart started checking the temperatures of their employees before they commence working. The companies also offered gloves and masks to workers and made it mandatory to wear while at work. However, companies like Home depo are giving the staff the thermometers for them to self-check and do not provide gloves and masks for the workers. The top rival of Home depo (Lowe firm) only offers masks to the employees (Kandoi, M., & Banerjee, 2020).

Safeway and Albertson must follow the government's recommendations and guidance. Safety and health should be the priority, especially for companies dealing with the clients directly (Gulland, 2016). As much as the federal government does not have a uniform direction for the grocery and retailer stores, businesses must embrace a patchwork system if the outbreak worsens to avoid it spreading to other people.

Safeway and Albert's son company must also facilitate worker protection efforts to protect the workers and customers. As much as retailers cannot portray the health experts' profession, they should not mix the policies concerning both workers and shoppers' safety since the stores are situated in public places (Gulland, 2016). Many customers still go to Safeway and Albert's son and come into close contact with the workers, which would have exposed everyone to the virus.

Overreaching the guidelines set by the government is what Safeway and Albert's son did and decided to do business with their own rules. Research has shown that the company can strengthen the workers to limit the virus's spread in any pandemic uniformity. The only way to be successful is by following the government's policy (Gulland, 2016). Safeway and Albert's son should also ensure that the customer's temperature is taken upon entering the stores to ensure that anyone sick does not mix with other people.

Safeway and Albertson should also embrace worker safety because of this pandemic, as much as President Trump mentioned that people who are not sick must not wear the mask. OSHA labor department also enforces the law to prepare every company for the worst (Gulland, 2016). As much as the OSHA guidance is not a regulation or standard, it offers companies laws because it is advisory.

Safeway and Albertson should embrace stricter rules because OSHA consists of little grocery and retailer stores' guidance (Kandoi & Banerjee, 2020). They believe that companies with high standards have medium exposer to the virus because they offer face masks to the customers and employees. The workers in that environment need to have a combination of face goggles, face masks, gowns, and gloves for protection.

OSHA spokesmen added that they use the risk-based approach to prioritize and assess the fieldwork using protocols that support workers' health and safety. OSHA also offers robust compliance to help the workers and employers during the trying times (Gellert, 2020). The agents' goal is to ensure that workers receive the protection needed to avoid spreading the disease. Safeway and Albert's son should also embrace these rules because they use the tools enforcers to ensure that everyone is protected.

Conclusion

The OSHA leader knew that the agency should be aggressive to enforce such requirement s not by offering guidance to firms but by inspecting the workplaces to avoid the disease's spread. OSHA is an active administration that has always been involved in offering expert advice with help from the National EMployement Law project because many companies have jeopardized public safety (OSHA. 2018). Worker health is vital, and OSHA ensures that workers are protected.