Sick workers tied to 40% of restaurant food poisoning outbreaks

[PSOL]

https://apnews.com/article/food-poisoning-outbreaks-restaurant-workers-cdc-fdd05774f6c179cd6ebe8a49dfc393c2

Food workers who showed up while sick or contagious were linked to about 40% of restaurant food poisoning outbreaks with a known cause between 2017 and 2019, federal health officials said Tuesday.

Norovirus and salmonella, germs that can cause severe illness, were the most common cause of 800 outbreaks, which encompassed 875 restaurants and were reported by 25 state and local health departments.

…

Although 85% of restaurants said they had policies restricting staff from working while sick, only about 16% of the policies were detailed enough to require workers to notify managers and to stay home if they had any of the five key symptoms — including vomiting, diarrhea, and sore throat with fever.

In many of these cases, I suspect it isn’t even about not having any sick days but needing to work that day to pay for rent or put food on the table. Workers benefits can only go for so much until financials run out and people being starved for income to live a dignified life. With today’s gas prices and rising cost of living in general many can’t take that risk.

[GP270watch]

 Gross.

[T'Chenka]

In many of these cases, I suspect it isn’t even about not having any sick days but needing to work that day to pay for rent or put food on the table. Workers benefits can only go for so much until financials run out and people being starved for income to live a dignified life. With today’s gas prices and rising cost of living in general many can’t take that risk.

Additionally, it's a pain in the butt for the management to find another worker to fill in for the sick person last minute. People want/need to make money and they also want to avoid annoying their bosses.

[Crumpets]

I can say from experience that I once tried to call in sick when I was working in the food sector, and the response I got was "Unless you can find someone else to cover your shift, you still have to come in. We already have too many other people out sick today."

[jamestroll]

I can say from experience that I once tried to call in sick when I was working in the food sector, and the response I got was "Unless you can find someone else to cover your shift, you still have to come in. We already have too many other people out sick today."

As a former hospitality manager, I will say it's the MANAGERS job to find coverage for shifts.

Great, I finally work for a unionized company in the public sector.

But you know who ACTUALLY Needs A Union?

Hotel,  fast-food,  retail, and SERVICE workers in general

[Jim Crow]

I can say from experience that I once tried to call in sick when I was working in the food sector, and the response I got was "Unless you can find someone else to cover your shift, you still have to come in. We already have too many other people out sick today."

As a former hospitality manager, I will say it's the MANAGERS job to find coverage for shifts.

Great, I finally work for a unionized company in the public sector.

But you know who ACTUALLY Needs A Union?

Hotel,  fast-food,  retail, and SERVICE workers in general

I can go on all day as a hotel manager about having to cover shifts at the last minute.  That's why it's important to keep the staff filled so you can cut hours for people who repeatedly call off.  If the sector you mentioned had a union, the whole sector would go out of business. 

[jamestroll]

I can say from experience that I once tried to call in sick when I was working in the food sector, and the response I got was "Unless you can find someone else to cover your shift, you still have to come in. We already have too many other people out sick today."

As a former hospitality manager, I will say it's the MANAGERS job to find coverage for shifts.

Great, I finally work for a unionized company in the public sector.

But you know who ACTUALLY Needs A Union?

Hotel,  fast-food,  retail, and SERVICE workers in general

I can go on all day as a hotel manager about having to cover shifts at the last minute.  That's why it's important to keep the staff filled so you can cut hours for people who repeatedly call off.  If the sector you mentioned had a union, the whole sector would go out of business.  

Virtually no union would say you can not reprimand workers for excessive call offs. There are quite a few unionized hotels in the DC area, and none of them have contracts that said you couldn't reprimand workers for excessive call outs.

The only issue I would have potentially seen with a union is it could be harder to move staff around to perform different tasks. I often did that to take care of the guest in a more timely matter.

I really do think most hotel managers are arrogant and are full of themselves. It's not heart surgery and so many people with "hospitality " degrees act like its the end of the world when an error is made. Nope. The work I do now could have actual serious consequences if an error is made, and people are much more relaxed.

Back in February,  I walked out of a grocery store and three hotel managers, a supervisor, and even a few workers all surrounded me. All because fundamental disagreements. I just walked away (sometimes you have to retreat to win). But they are all full of themselves.

The disagreements were as follows:

1) I believe in private sector unionization

2) I was pretty quick to kick out unruly guests.

3) I did not treat random homeless people or non registered guests as "guests".

4)  Sick people shouldn't come to work (Grey area with covid though)

[President Johnson]

This is one reason why the US should have paid sick days madatory. It's mainstream in all other Western countries and not even questioned by conservative parties there. I don't know why such laws can't be passed. It's not even that sick workers showing up add much to employers. All things considered, it's almost certainly a net loss for them.

[Jim Crow]

I can say from experience that I once tried to call in sick when I was working in the food sector, and the response I got was "Unless you can find someone else to cover your shift, you still have to come in. We already have too many other people out sick today."

As a former hospitality manager, I will say it's the MANAGERS job to find coverage for shifts.

Great, I finally work for a unionized company in the public sector.

But you know who ACTUALLY Needs A Union?

Hotel,  fast-food,  retail, and SERVICE workers in general

I can go on all day as a hotel manager about having to cover shifts at the last minute.  That's why it's important to keep the staff filled so you can cut hours for people who repeatedly call off.  If the sector you mentioned had a union, the whole sector would go out of business.  

Virtually no union would say you can not reprimand workers for excessive call offs. There are quite a few unionized hotels in the DC area, and none of them have contracts that said you couldn't reprimand workers for excessive call outs.

The only issue I would have potentially seen with a union is it could be harder to move staff around to perform different tasks. I often did that to take care of the guest in a more timely matter.

I really do think most hotel managers are arrogant and are full of themselves. It's not heart surgery and so many people with "hospitality " degrees act like its the end of the world when an error is made. Nope. The work I do now could have actual serious consequences if an error is made, and people are much more relaxed.

Back in February,  I walked out of a grocery store and three hotel managers, a supervisor, and even a few workers all surrounded me. All because fundamental disagreements. I just walked away (sometimes you have to retreat to win). But they are all full of themselves.

The disagreements were as follows:

1) I believe in private sector unionization

2) I was pretty quick to kick out unruly guests.

3) I did not treat random homeless people or non registered guests as "guests".

4)  Sick people shouldn't come to work (Grey area with covid though)

Very good!  After reading your post I've been inspired to start a thread about my experiences with "guests."  After covid all the druggies in town started using their free money from the government to rent rooms and deal.  It was a fun thing for me to deal with a put a stop to.  When I say fun I actually do mean fun in the literal sense of the word.  It's like a chess game.  Oh the memories!  Like most hotels we had a policy of not renting to people who live within a 50 mile radius that was selectively applied to people who had caused trouble at our hotel or looked suspicious.  Of course if they pull out a wad of cash and smell like weed we'd enforce our "policy." 

[ProgressiveModerate]

I can say from experience that I once tried to call in sick when I was working in the food sector, and the response I got was "Unless you can find someone else to cover your shift, you still have to come in. We already have too many other people out sick today."

I've def seen people working the counters at places like McDonalds who seem very out of it; doesn't neccessarily mean they're sick but def likely in some cases, and I could def imagine them skimping on sanitation reguardless.

[Kahane's Grave Is A Gender-Neutral Bathroom]

These jobs should be automated.

[DrScholl]

I work food service and recently one of the servers was clearly sick. The manager of the servers even knew it, but she allowed her to work a double shift anyway. Now I'm not the type to run to the upper level management and tattle, but I was concerned and wished that someone with some sense would enforce the rules.

[PSOL]

None of this would be an issue if firms hired at the actual rate to ensure that the public is serviced well and not prioritizing profits. It’s a sh**tty situation for everyone but large shareholders and executives.

These jobs should be automated.

They can’t be. Even with self-checkout and the mostly anemic ship-to-home retail foodstuffs industry—with even large companies like Amazon having this problem even with hiring strikebreakers temp agents, they are still understaffed compared to what the minimum employees are needed to actually do the work. And self-automated systems are a b•••• to repair and fix mistakes of, which unlike human nature allowing for learned helplessness/desperation/understanding of one’s place as a wage slave, is actually harder to cut costs to preserve profits.

[T'Chenka]

These jobs should be automated.

Food / restaurants? No.

Also, let's be realistic here Mongoose about 21st century Western society. The entire system is set up to benefit the rich and corporations and f__k over everybody else. Without some sort of progressive revolution, more and more jobs are going to be automated and less and less people will have jobs (income), all for the sake of "progress" and helping the rich get richer. This "advancement" will ultimately f__k everybody over and help the rich get richer. How is that ACTUALLY progress, for humans? For technology and for capitalism, sure. We're all humans though. As our species evolves, the systems we've built will ensure that we DON'T benefit, and actually just create higher unemployment and widen the wealth gap.

I'm personally not eager to run full speed towards a future where the Musks are even easier off and a lot of my friends and neighbours can't find jobs.

[Kahane's Grave Is A Gender-Neutral Bathroom]

These jobs should be automated.

Food / restaurants? No.

Also, let's be realistic here Mongoose about 21st century Western society. The entire syste
 is set up to benefit the rich and corporations and f__k over everybody else. Without soem sort of progressive revolution, more and more jobs are going to be automated and less and less people will have jobs, all for the sake of "progress" and helping the rich get richer. This "advancement" is ultimately f__k everybody over and help the rich get richer. How is that ACTUALLY progress, for humans? For technology and for capitalism, sure. We're all humans though. As our species evolves, the systems we've built will ensure that we DON'T benefit, and actually just create higher unemployment and widen the wealth gap.

I'm personally not eager to run full speed towards a future where the Musks are even easier off and a lot of my friends and neighbours can't find jobs.

The jobs should be automated and my idea to guarantee a minimum income of $24,000 per year for all American adults (so if they can only work a small number of hours due to a lack of job openings they still can get by).

[PSOL]

Dude, that amount of cash can’t feed a family much less pay rent in affordable areas of chicago near real work—and this is important, you can’t get a place near a good job market for less than $36,000–for a year. You are basically admitting capitalism is incompatible with human nature at this point.

[Kahane's Grave Is A Gender-Neutral Bathroom]

Dude, that amount of cash can’t feed a family much less pay rent in affordable areas of chicago near real work—and this is important, you can’t get a place near a good job market for less than $36,000–for a year. You are basically admitting capitalism is incompatible with human nature at this point.

The $24,000 would make it easier for people to stay in rural/more low-cost areas. This would reduce the average rents and cost of living in major cities.

I'm thinking that the $24,000 could have some cost of living adjustments or bonuses for those with children.

[PSOL]

Dude, that amount of cash can’t feed a family much less pay rent in affordable areas of chicago near real work—and this is important, you can’t get a place near a good job market for less than $36,000–for a year. You are basically admitting capitalism is incompatible with human nature at this point.

The $24,000 would make it easier for people to stay in rural/more low-cost areas. This would reduce the average rents and cost of living in major cities.

I'm thinking that the $24,000 could have some cost of living adjustments or bonuses for those with children.

Those low cost of living areas have no jobs for the vast majority of people born there, which spurred their exodus to the cities, and are basically rackets for elderly wealthy people who are surrounded by miserable middle aged jobholders bound by the land and a small section of unemployed youth dealing drugs and doing odd jobs to survive which in turn are mostly taken now by undocumented children. There is nothing there for the young neurodivergents and homosexuals running away nor the families seeking quality education for their children.

Dude, you have no idea what life is actually like outside of your projection of a mythic middle class America.

[T'Chenka]

These jobs should be automated.

Food / restaurants? No.

Also, let's be realistic here Mongoose about 21st century Western society. The entire syste
 is set up to benefit the rich and corporations and f__k over everybody else. Without soem sort of progressive revolution, more and more jobs are going to be automated and less and less people will have jobs, all for the sake of "progress" and helping the rich get richer. This "advancement" is ultimately f__k everybody over and help the rich get richer. How is that ACTUALLY progress, for humans? For technology and for capitalism, sure. We're all humans though. As our species evolves, the systems we've built will ensure that we DON'T benefit, and actually just create higher unemployment and widen the wealth gap.

I'm personally not eager to run full speed towards a future where the Musks are even easier off and a lot of my friends and neighbours can't find jobs.

The jobs should be automated and my idea to guarantee a minimum income of $24,000 per year for all American adults (so if they can only work a small number of hours due to a lack of job openings they still can get by).

The neoliberals running the Democratic Party aren't going to provide Americans with good solutions? Mediocre solutions that SOMEWHAT help and are better than Republican solutions? Sure, yeah.

Realistically, without an AOC type progressive POTUS and a congress unwilling to oppose them, any solution that looks like what your proposing won't happen. We need to resist automation to at least slow it down IMO.