I wanted to share with other business owners and managers a program we at Bendistillery initiated to help our hourly employees manage any possible COVID-19 related hardships.
As a company with significant public exposure — we have two tasting rooms, and until the pandemic hit, we were offering public tours of our distillery. During Phase 1 we kept the tasting rooms minimally staffed, offering retail bottle sales only, and canceled all tours. Now that we are in Phase 2 we are trying to offer as much service as possible while keeping both our staff and the public safe. We are complying with all the state and local rules on masks and social distancing, including providing masks and face shields for all staff, testing temperatures at the start of all shifts, assessing visible signs of symptoms and adhering to stringent sanitizing procedures.
These are all protections most companies are implementing, but what happens should somebody show symptoms, test positive and be forced to quarantine? While wearing a mask all day is an inconvenience, a 14-day quarantine represents a huge financial burden for many of our employees. Although they would be eligible for unemployment benefits, the State of Oregon is months behind in processing and paying claims. Months without income is not feasible for many.
The inevitable risk is a COVID-19-positive employee ignores the early symptoms and reports for work so as not to miss the income, endangering both coworkers and guests.
Recognizing this situation, we are offering our employees their full hourly wage for two weeks if they are required to self-quarantine or are the primary caregiver for somebody who is required to quarantine. We hope this will not only provide a benefit to our dedicated, hardworking employees, but offer an added level of protection to their co-workers and the public at large.
Thank you,
Alan Dietrich
CEO, Bendistillery & Crater Lake Spirits
The above article was prepared by the author in his/her own personal capacity. The opinions expressed in the article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cascade Business News or of Cascade Publications Inc.
