sick leave?

I finally tracked down my HR person the other day. Despite the company's public claims to be in constant communication with its employees about the ever changing situation, I haven’t been directly told one single thing about changes in anything regarding the coronavirus. I’ve been much more likely to get news from Reddit than from any of the higher ups at my store.

So when I got the chance I asked Mr. HR what the company policy was regarding leave during the pandemic. Having heard that there was paid leave coming our way because of everything going on, I asked about quarantining and what's the policy around that. I live with another person who's work won’t be able to stop because of the pandemic. I inquired specifically if they are exposed to the virus and told to quarantine am I supposed to do likewise?

He wouldn’t give me any specific instructions instead informing me that the policy at this time was that I could get 14 days paid leave only if I tested positive for the coronavirus. Beyond that I was welcome to take as many days off as I felt necessary if I was in any way feeling “uncomfortable.”

I can tell you I was not comforted by this response. I asked about the fact that from what I’ve heard tests are currently few and far between. My understanding is that you have to be sick and have knowingly been exposed to someone who has tested positive or be hospitalized before they’ll give you one. He didn’t really have an answer for me except to say again that folks will only get paid time off if they actually test positive. (Since this conversation the company I work for has started giving paid leave to vulnerable folks but again this was never relayed to us on the ground at the store.)

I’m in a relatively stable position for the moment but I’m thinking of folks who have to get their bills paid. For lots of people any loss of income is a difficulty. If we only get paid leave when we test positive, does someone come in if they have only mild symptoms? It could just be a cough or seasonal allergies but what if it isn’t? They’re not going to be able to get tested based on that alone. Any of the thousands of people who have come through our store in the past week could be sick and not know it. We wouldn’t know if we had direct contact with someone who has the coronavirus.

In this potentially very real situation only offering leave to folks who have tested positive puts everyone at risk, coworkers and the public. HR wouldn’t even tell me to stay home if someone in my household had been exposed!