As the news surrounding the spread of SARS-CoV-2 evolves, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other leaders in public health have urged employers to prepare remote work options. For employers like Walmart, this is largely an impossibility. Many employers in the retail, grocery and restaurant spaces have turned to paid leave instead.
Outbreaks have prompted several visible businesses to amend their sick leave policies. Darden, parent company of Olive Garden, Longhorn Steakhouse and Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, added paid sick leave for the 180,000 hourly workers who did not yet have it. Trader Joe’s enacted a similar policy. Workers at McDonald’s corporate stores will receive two weeks of paid leave if they are quarantined.
