COVID-19 COVID Alerts

[T90]

I saw this on Reddit and was wondering how everyone else feels about it. I’m a pretty flexible advocate so on a usual day I’m being asked to work (or rather told too lol) in 5 different work centers, sometimes not touching the one I’m scheduled for. I know it’s against the law for HR to share the names of the employees who have gotten infected but they also haven’t even told us if they work in our department or if we’ve possibly come in contact with them. I know the name of one of my team members because she actually called and let another team member know that they could’ve possibly been infected by them. I’m considering taking the quarantine leave but I’m not sure who to call or how to go about it. I have older-at risk family members in my home and wanted to do everything I can to keep those around me (including guest who annoyingly refuse wear masks 🙄) safe.

 

[GRC]

The first case we had, they let everyone know what department they were in, how often they worked, and what day they last worked. Since then it's only been the text messages which don't give much detail. I wish that they could, with the permission of the TM in question of course, give more details, including their name if the TM is fine with it. I think most people would be ok with doing that so people can know if they have had contact with them.

 

[NKG]

Find the tm that knows all the hot gossip and get it from them

 

[Bosch]

I was the asshole who posted it on my personal FB page that I got exposed at work, you know what I do and where I spend most of my time so you can take the action you need to take..

 

[Frontlanegirl]

The mantra has been if a TM has been around a confirmed case then they would be notified. For example, if we have a Style TM that tests positive then all the Style TM’s should have been notified. I can say that this is not happening. How do I know, because said TM let their fellow TM’s know they tested positive and the other TM’s wanted to know why they were not told by store management.

 

[BurgerBob]

Yup, I established a network at my store 1 person in each department so we can report if anyone gets covid.

 

[SallyHoover]

I think it depends on the department. I regularly cashier and other than occasionally the TL if there is a problem I am not in any kind of close contact with other tm's for more than a minute. Guest services on the other hand can have up to 4 team members in fairly close quarters both up front and in the back stepping over and practically brushing against each other several times in shift to get around to the various areas. Same with drive up. There are times when there are 2-3 du/opu tm's and 1-2 fulfillment members in the same cramped area not necessarily for long periods of time but for several shorter periods of time, which add up over a busy shift.

 

[Florida Dawg]

We have had 9 at my store. Wonder if any of them were lies. 🙄

 

[allnew2]

I think it depends on the department. I regularly cashier and other than occasionally the TL if there is a problem I am not in any kind of close contact with other tm's for more than a minute. Guest services on the other hand can have up to 4 team members in fairly close quarters both up front and in the back stepping over and practically brushing against each other several times in shift to get around to the various areas. Same with drive up. There are times when there are 2-3 du/opu tm's and 1-2 fulfillment members in the same cramped area not necessarily for long periods of time but for several shorter periods of time, which add up over a busy shift.

Guest service don’t have plexiglass in between them?

 

[sunnydays]

Guest service don’t have plexiglass in between them?

not between individual gs registers and certainly not in the hold spaces, which are already too cramped to social distance in

 

[allnew2]

not between individual gs registers and certainly not in the hold spaces, which are already too cramped to social distance in

That sucks

 

[Rarejem]

not between individual gs registers and certainly not in the hold spaces, which are already too cramped to social distance in

This has bothered me from the first day the plexiglass was installed and I don't even work at GS

 

[allnew2]

This has bothered me from the first day the plexiglass was installed and I don't even work at GS

I’m surprised that not all store has it . My store does

 

[Anelmi]

The register plexiglass installs were kinda not thought through tbh. We have a sliding door kinda deal facing the cashiers back which no one closes because when they turn around they bump into it. The partitions along the conveyer belt and the card reader don't quite extend enough and then the whole backside where the cashier places the bags is wide open.

GS only has plexiglass on the areas that are guest facing not in between TM registers/spaces.

 

[PackAndCry]

Well, of course, we couldn't have the plexiglass at the lanes actually be effective, because that would imply we don't want the guests coughing in our faces.

 

[IWishIKnew]

Plexiglass at the lanes is fine, at my store, but not at GS or electronics. I can't really blame anyone, though, as the spaces just don't really work for adding plexiglass in a meaningful way. If plexiglass is meaningful at all, that is. I haven't seen any research on whether it's really effective. Maybe if everyone is unmasked they're better than nothing, but I don't see them being worth the effort, in general.

 

[idkwhattodo]

The register plexiglass installs were kinda not thought through tbh. We have a sliding door kinda deal facing the cashiers back which no one closes because when they turn around they bump into it. The partitions along the conveyer belt and the card reader don't quite extend enough and then the whole backside where the cashier places the bags is wide open.

GS only has plexiglass on the areas that are guest facing not in between TM registers/spaces.

Fun story about the plexiglass at the checklanes: We were told we’d get written up if we didn’t have the doors closed, so like the nice advocate that I am, I closed it. I then proceeded to forget I closed it and slammed into it so loudly that I almost broke the plexiglass. It hurt lol. It was so loud too. I was so embarrassed, but also I couldn’t stop laughing. Now my TL makes me keep it open.

Returns with the plexiglass suck. We have to have the guest hand it to us over the plexiglass or squeeze it through where the credit card machine is. Anything too big or if the guest doesn’t want to hand it over, we have to walk around and grab anyway, which defeats the purpose. I feel like it doesn’t affect the spread. It’s the no maskers, not enough cashiers, and the limits being too high that’s doing the worst damage.

 

[Tessa120]

I’m considering taking the quarantine leave but I’m not sure who to call or how to go about it. I have older-at risk family members in my home and wanted to do everything I can to keep those around me (including guest who annoyingly refuse wear masks 🙄) safe.

I'm going to be honest. When COVID-19 started becoming major news a bunch of people on this board said they and fellow TMs were going on the paid leave for 30 days. 30 days later the virus was still big and bad. So they all took 90 days unpaid leave. 90 days later things were actually worse. When people first started talking about the paid leave I thought it sounded silly, as if they thought all troubles would be over in 30 or 120 days and it'd be rainbows and sunshine and no nasty deadly virus. It made more sense to save it for when there was more than a hypothetical risk, like a cluster nearby or a family member getting sick with something else that heightened chances of complications. Something where barricading yourself was a reasonable response to an actual direct threat. When all those unpaid leaves ended, people were debating between quitting and having no income or going back to the same exact viral conditions they left, as if there had been any doubt that there'd be health issue changes. Then when things got a little worse and clusters started appearing, people had no leave left to take.

So are you planning on taking leave because of a hypothetical risk that will still be there when you return? Or are you facing a condition that really will go away in 15-30 days and it really will be safer to stay put for a couple weeks because the risk will drop in that time?

 

[happygoth]

I'm going to be honest. When COVID-19 started becoming major news a bunch of people on this board said they and fellow TMs were going on the paid leave for 30 days. 30 days later the virus was still big and bad. So they all took 90 days unpaid leave. 90 days later things were actually worse. When people first started talking about the paid leave I thought it sounded silly, as if they thought all troubles would be over in 30 or 120 days and it'd be rainbows and sunshine and no nasty deadly virus. It made more sense to save it for when there was more than a hypothetical risk, like a cluster nearby or a family member getting sick with something else that heightened chances of complications. Something where barricading yourself was a reasonable response to an actual direct threat. When all those unpaid leaves ended, people were debating between quitting and having no income or going back to the same exact viral conditions they left, as if there had been any doubt that there'd be health issue changes. Then when things got a little worse and clusters started appearing, people had no leave left to take.

So are you planning on taking leave because of a hypothetical risk that will still be there when you return? Or are you facing a condition that really will go away in 15-30 days and it really will be safer to stay put for a couple weeks because the risk will drop in that time?

I took the leave right when things got bad in my state, and before the mask mandates from the state and Target were put in place. By the time I came back the numbers were better and masks and distancing were in full swing. It helped.

Of course, we had no way of knowing at that time that this thing would turn into an out of control nightmare and tear the world apart.

 

[Shani]

I'm going to be honest. When COVID-19 started becoming major news a bunch of people on this board said they and fellow TMs were going on the paid leave for 30 days. 30 days later the virus was still big and bad. So they all took 90 days unpaid leave. 90 days later things were actually worse. When people first started talking about the paid leave I thought it sounded silly, as if they thought all troubles would be over in 30 or 120 days and it'd be rainbows and sunshine and no nasty deadly virus. It made more sense to save it for when there was more than a hypothetical risk, like a cluster nearby or a family member getting sick with something else that heightened chances of complications. Something where barricading yourself was a reasonable response to an actual direct threat. When all those unpaid leaves ended, people were debating between quitting and having no income or going back to the same exact viral conditions they left, as if there had been any doubt that there'd be health issue changes. Then when things got a little worse and clusters started appearing, people had no leave left to take.

So are you planning on taking leave because of a hypothetical risk that will still be there when you return? Or are you facing a condition that really will go away in 15-30 days and it really will be safer to stay put for a couple weeks because the risk will drop in that time?

Same thing happened at my store. A bunch of people took the leave immediately and we didn't even have any cases in our area at that point. Now they're stuck unless they want unpaid leave, which they can't afford to do.

A few others were strategic and waited for cases to get higher before taking that month off. A couple purposely took off for December so they wouldn't have to work through the Christmas chaos. Wish I'd thought of that haha.

 

[Tessa120]

I took the leave right when things got bad in my state, and before the mask mandates from the state and Target were put in place. By the time I came back the numbers were better and masks and distancing were in full swing. It helped.

Of course, we had no way of knowing at that time that this thing would turn into an out of control nightmare and tear the world apart.

I think it was known it would be an out of control nightmare by the bulk of people. There was no other reason for me to be thinking at the time that blowing through the leave was useless since it was just going to be as bad or worse for a long time. I'm paranoid in a lot of ways but I do minimize illness including all those bird flu scares and the first SARS.

 

[happygoth]

I think it was known it would be an out of control nightmare by the bulk of people. There was no other reason for me to be thinking at the time that blowing through the leave was useless since it was just going to be as bad or worse for a long time. I'm paranoid in a lot of ways but I do minimize illness including all those bird flu scares and the first SARS.

If people want to take a leave, let them take the damn leave. People have to do what's right for themselves.

And no, sorry, in April I did not know the numbers would be THIS bad. I knew 2020 would be cancelled and I was for strict lockdowns for longer periods of time. But this bad? No.

Bird flu and SARS had nothing on this. I also do not worry about such things until they start getting close. No such thing happened with SARS, Ebola, bird flu, etc.

 

[Tessa120]

If people want to take a leave, let them take the damn leave. People have to do what's right for themselves.

And no, sorry, in April I did not know the numbers would be THIS bad. I knew 2020 would be cancelled and I was for strict lockdowns for longer periods of time. But this bad? No.

Bird flu and SARS had nothing on this. I also do not worry about such things until they start getting close. No such thing happened with SARS, Ebola, bird flu, etc.

You say let them take the damned leave, but you turn around and say you knew it would be bad through 2020.

If someone was offered 3 months of natural gas heat and told the whole year would be unusually cold, would you says let them take the damned gift in June, because what'sright for them is heat in the summer? Or would you think them idiots for not saving their gas gift until November when its really needed?

 

[happygoth]

You say let them take the damned leave, but you turn around and say you knew it would be bad through 2020.

If someone was offered 3 months of natural gas heat and told the whole year would be unusually cold, would you says let them take the damned gift in June, because what'sright for them is heat in the summer? Or would you think them idiots for not saving their gas gift until November when its really needed?

Omg Tessa, who cares? People take leave for a million reasons.

ETA: Yes I said 2020 was cancelled, but that had at least a little to do with the fact that I am a germaphobe. I was perfectly willing to cancel plans for a year if it meant stemming the tide of this thing. This has been an unprecedented pandemic in our time and I don't believe that most people knew it would get this bad back in March or April. I remember the first time experts said that it may last until July and people not believing it.

 

[dannyy315]

You say let them take the damned leave, but you turn around and say you knew it would be bad through 2020.

If someone was offered 3 months of natural gas heat and told the whole year would be unusually cold, would you says let them take the damned gift in June, because what'sright for them is heat in the summer? Or would you think them idiots for not saving their gas gift until November when its really needed?

People have to make their own decisions for themselves. Now with your example, I made a calculation and took a leave from March to May, returned June-November when things died down a bit, then took another leave. But everyone’s situation is different. Taking a leave during this pandemic isn’t as simple as “I want to avoid getting sick”. Maybe they need to care for a family member who got sick. Or maybe a family member died and they have to take care of their kids. A variety of different reasons people can’t come to work.