Free breadsticks during a coronavirus outbreak (workers forced to come in sick)

https://popular.info/p/free-breadsticks-during-a-coronavirus?fbclid=IwAR3XC2IC8KxUZJAba_Dk3IR-NytEmK_ioGdQQJepqQmRGZKMDn6HSPm6EiM

Judd Legum

Excerpt:

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A server at the Indianapolis Yard House, another Darden restaurant chain, told Popular Information that restaurant staff "do not get paid sick leave" and get "written up" if they fail to call in sick at least two hours in advance. According to the Indianapolis-based server, since the coronavirus outbreak, the company sent out a message encouraging sick employees to stay home. But it has not offered to pay these employees for missing time. The server has observed many coworkers reporting to work sick because they could not afford to miss a shift.

An Olive Garden server reports that, at a North Dakota location, employees are "not allowed to stay home sick" unless they can find someone to cover their shift or produce a doctor's note. But many of the workers lack insurance to see a doctor. In December, the server says, several members of the staff worked with a persistent cough.

A former Olive Garden server in Arizona, who recently quit, also said there was no pay for missed shifts. Did the server observe people coming into work sick as a result?

All of the time. If you couldn't get your shift covered and called in sick, they would typically try to get you to come in anyways, and if you stayed home, you would lose shifts in the future.

. . .

"One reason why so many restaurant workers lack paid sick leave is that companies like Darden are spending millions to prevent the passage of paid sick leave laws. Even as the coronavirus spreads in the United States, Darden, Outback Steakhouse, McDonald's, and other large employers are lobbying for a Florida law that would block cities from implementing their own paid sick leave requirements.

. . . more