As COVID-19 Outbreak Persists, Hourly Workers Face Growing Challenge
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Hourly employees are the backbone of the service industry, which has been undoubtedly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the neighborhood known as Lowest Greenville, plenty of shops are still open for business and take-out service.
But the question is what happens to employees who are unable to show up to work.
Many workers will be faced with the dilemma of showing up for work or losing pay.
This time of year is when Steel City Pops would be gearing up for summer. But now the popsicle shop is preparing for other changes.
"I anticipate they'll use their salaried employees quite heavily now to try to curb costs to make sure we can keep the lights on," said Zach Phillips, the events coordinator for Steel City Pops.
As concerns over COVID-19 deepen, so do challenges faced by hourly employees.
Phillips said in the future, lower sales could mean fewer shifts. Meanwhile, employees who cannot come to work risk losing pay.
"For our hourly employees, there are no real sick days," Phillips said. "If they're sick, they can take off, we won't terminate for something like that. The only people who get sick days are salaried employees."
More than four million Texans lack paid sick leave, according to a 2017 study by the Institute for Women's Policy Research.
Starting April 1, the city of Dallas will start enforcing a paid sick leave ordinance.
But for now, the ordinance only applies to employers with more than six workers.
Many other cities lack paid sick policies altogether.
"Most of the employers are taking a wait and see look and evaluating moment by moment," said Mark York, with the Dallas chapter of the AFL-CIO. "We're hoping employers will do the right thing and do right by their employees."
But if they don't, York said the AFL-CIO will take action.
If you're terminated because you call in sick, there are avenues to appeal those to the Texas Workforce Commission, and we'll be exercising those rights to the fullest extent," York said.
Kaitlyn Kirby works at a small boutique where she said the paid leave policy is still unclear.
"We haven't talked about that yet because we are a small business, we are still trying to figure that out, this has never happened to us before," said Kirby, who is one of two employees at the clothing store.
In Washington, Congress is working on a bill that would expand benefits for paid sick leave and unemployment insurance.
It's a measure Phillips said he hopes passes soon.
"We'll be in serious trouble if this is still going on six to eight months down the road," Phillips said.
