7ILLUSTRATION
BY
JACK
TAYLOR
workers and businesses. Lawmakers should establish a public
fund for employees in critical industries, similar to the National
Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, to help them if they
get sick on the job. Congress should also consider a more
expansive unemployment insurance program for workers at
high risk for Covid-19 and allow companies to offer tax-free
bonuses—hazard pay—for those who need to be on-site.
Congress should offer tax benefits or other relief to help
small businesses defray the costs of taking protective measures.
It should also amend health privacy laws that might prohibit
employers from verifying if workers have been infected,
assessing whether they’re at elevated risk on the job, or trac-
ing their contacts within the workplace. Those laws, though
well-intentioned, are now potentially quite dangerous.
Until a vaccine is available to all, these kinds of com-
monsense measures will be necessary to protect American
workers—and to help American businesses survive,
hire employees, and get our economy moving again.
Formorecommentary,gotobloomberg.com/opinionBLOOMBERG OPINION May 18, 2020
States that are reopening their economies even as cases of
Covid-19 are still rising are threatening their own residents
and the whole country. But they’re also running into two chal-
lenges that all states will face: Employees don’t want to return
to work if they fear exposure to the coronavirus on the job,
and employers don’t want to get sued if their workers or cus-
tomers end up sick. Both concerns are reasonable, and both
could further cripple the economy unless Congress steps in.
It’s essential that companies take actions that protect their
employees, yet they’re getting little federal guidance in what
exactly that means. Even those that take every conceivable pre-
caution, however, will face unprecedented liability concerns
that could paralyze investment and prevent them from rehir-
ing workers they may have laid off or furloughed.
To protect employees, the federal government should out-
line safeguards companies should be taking at a minimum—and
offer a legal safe harbor to those that adopt and follow them.
We know that workplaces are potential hotbeds for the
virus. By early April, more than 9,000 American health-
care workers had already come down with Covid-19. At least
170 meat processing plants had outbreaks, infecting 11,500.
Clerks and cashiers have been similarly hard hit. As the world
returns to work, those numbers will surely worsen.
Meanwhile, hundreds of lawsuits related to the virus have
already been filed. Class-action suits from customers or tort law
claims from workers could impose a heavy burden on compa-
nies at a time when they’re struggling to stay afloat. Bankruptcy
would mean more job losses and higher unemployment.
These suits could impose a significant economic cost, cre-
ate persistent uncertainty for businesses, impede needed
investment, and potentially cause production bottlenecks in
industries essential to recovery. Congress must act, and soon.
Creating a safe-harbor arrangement that incentivizes
employers to take specific steps will help ensure workplaces
are safe. To qualify, companies could be required to provide
employees with protective equipment and take other pre-
cautions against infection, such as disinfecting workplaces,
offering flexible sick leave policies, and imposing social distanc-
ing measures on workers and customers. Businesses that fail to
follow the guidelines could still be held liable in court.
Both employees and businesses would benefit. Workers
would have better protections, safer conditions, and legal
recourse if their employer acted negligently. Companies acting
in good faith could feel more confident opening their doors.
And by adopting best practices and changing social norms for
the better, they would help slow the spread of the virus.
Congress should also consider additional steps to helpSoftBank releases fiscal full-year earnings on May 18.
CEO Masayoshi Son has seen his aggressive spending on
startups backfire as onetime hopefuls like WeWork implode.A Hard Landing for SoftBank
AGENDA
Chinese online
commerce giant Alibaba
reports fourth-quarter
earnings on May 22.
The pandemic has kept
many merchants from
resuming operations and
delayed some deliveries. Germany’s Finance
Ministry provides an
update on the health
of Europe’s largest
economy and borrowing
needs with its monthly
economic report, due
on May 22. Walmart reports
earnings on May 19,
followed by Target the
next day. Shoppers
have flocked to both
discount chains to
stock up on staples. The U.S. Federal
Reserve releases its
April 28-29 policy
meeting minutes on
May 20, providing
insight into its decision
to maintain borrowing
costs near zero. Turkey’s Central Bank
delivers its latest rate
decision on May 21.
The policy committee
has already cut its
benchmark eight times in
under a year to prop up a
weakening economy. Following a delay of
two months, China’s
Communist Party opens
its annual National
Congress on May 22,
with Premier Li Keqiang
delivering a state-of-
the-country address.To Restart Business,
ProtectWorkers
○ By Michael R. Bloomberg