|
In Vermont, the governor has everyone sheltering in-place until the 15th, but it doesn't seem like it's being taken seriously by many.
My job is considered essential - at least parts of it. I support access control and security of other essential businesses, such as hospitals, data centers and retirement homes.
Most of our employees are working from home, and doing mostly remote work at that. However, there's some arguably non-essential work going on. We have a copy of the federal guidelines sent out on the conference table at work, and it seems to leave a lot of discretion for what is and isn't non-essential.
An example. Yesterday I was sent to install an alarm panel (typically lower pay technician work) at a gas station + deli. I was skeptical but was told measures were in place to reduce my exposure. This is a business which is normally open 24 hours, but with the virus going around, it may be shut down for periods of the night at some point in the near future, and they had no security. The logic was sound on this one.
I've been holed up for nearly 2 weeks, not leaving my house for anything except the occasional task for work, so I didn't have a good sense of how people are treating the lockdown order. While I was on site, there was a considerable amount of foot traffic, more than I had anticipated. At one point around the lunch rush there might have been 15 warm bodies inside the store, in line for the deli. The rest of the day it was mostly people coming in looking for lottery tickets (which weren't being sold) or to get Gatorade or beer.
I should have just left the job unfinished, but due to indecisiveness and hesitation instead opted to send my boss an email letting him know how it was in the field, and inform him I would not be going to another site like this.
Today I'm working remotely until noon, at which point I'm going to a local university to hang a couple of exterior cameras. The school is deserted, and the only interaction I'll have is with the dispatcher at their fire department to get a set of keys. I consider this a pretty safe task. However, although it's very low risk, it's also clearly "non-essential" and could have been put off. OTOH, it's helping to ensure we all still have jobs at the end.
Last meeting, we were told that where employees go is entirely at their discretion, aside from certain places (e.g. nobody is going to retirement homes unless it's unavoidable and critical). Everyone is guaranteed a paycheck every week and for benefits to stay active, regardless of how busy we are. I'm aware of some other employees who were already paycheck to paycheck, and are doing their best to stay at or above 40 hours.
Speaking with my boss privately, although everyone is able to use their discretion, it's his opinion that this is a media circus, and he's more concerned about the economic fallout than by the virus itself, citing things like the statistics of dying from a car accident or the flu. Add on top of that everyone's individual self interest in keeping the money flowing, and you have a situation where our system is working against the public health.
|