Retail establishments that have been deemed essential and therefore remained open, have taken a variety of approaches to safety and hygiene. Some have required masks, and sometime also gloves, for customers to enter, others have only required employees to wear masks, others just some employees. In some instances though, the measures are merely PR, and do nothing to actually protect employees or customers.
Yesterday I made a comment about a local store that supposedly requires its employees to wear masks (but not third party vendors or customers), but whose employees do not wear the masks properly (noses exposed, taking them off to have conversations etc) thus negating any real safety or public health benefit. I was vociferously taken to task for this comment (not the first time I have publicized this) which was interpreted as criticizing and judging the employees of this store. However, my criticism was and is targeted at the ownership and management of this company.
Most of my criticism is merely an offshoot of my observation over the years that this company, despite any protestations to the contrary, really doesn't care about their employees, other than as a means to generate profits. I can go on and on with examples, but in this specific instance, their actions indicate that the company doesn't really care about the health and safety of their employees.
Starting with employees' mask wearing, this requirement sounds like a good idea, but for the wearing of a mask to be effective to any degree, it needs to be done properly. Taking it off regularly, or wearing it without covering both the nose and mouth is about as effective as a bow tie. I very much understand that wearing a mask for a full shift is uncomfortable, but if it's important enough to require, then it's important enough for management to ensure that the employees are complying. Since management isn't following up, it's obvious that they don't think it's important and the mask requirement is nothing more than a public relations stunt that is burdening the employees without actually accomplishing anything. Ergo, they don't really care.
This company has been notorious for failing to address people's behavior when that behavior poses no legal liability. Vendors and consultants make remarks that would get an employee fired for sexual harassment or racism are tolerated because there is no legal liability for their actions. Despite all employees being requited to wear masks, third party vendors are not. This makes no sense. Some of these merchandisers and salesmen are in the store as much as some employees, but somehow they pose no public safety risk. Does that make sense?
Let's not neglect customers. Like most retail establishments, this company reliably sides with customers in any dispute with employees. Customers who complain about mask wearing, who complain about no mask wearing, who rant about shortages and purchase limits. This would be the time for ownership (they say that they are employee owned, but that is an illusion) to step up and defend their employees against aggressively complaining customers. But they won't. They won't require customers to mask up because they don't want to offend anyone, and they take no action to protect their employees from customers who think that being a customer requires employees to be subservient.
These employees are working under extreme stress, risking their health, and laboring day after day, week after week like it was the day before a major holiday; except those busy times slow down, there is no seeming end to this.
But B&R Stores (yeah, that's who I'm specifically talking about) gets to act like they care about the well-being of their employees, but they seemingly don't care enough to make sure that they are protected.
[Full disclosure - I was fired from B&R Stores around 5 years ago]
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