Chipotle Workers Demand Company Comply With Sick Leave Laws Amid COVID-19 Outbreak

As the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise in New York City, workers at Chipotle are continuing to demand the company fully comply with paid sick leave laws.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued guidance to employers to "actively encourage sick employees to stay home" in response to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. But days before New York City's first confirmed case, one worker says he called in sick with flu-like symptoms with a doctor's note but was written up when he didn't show up to work.

"They want us to shut up," the worker, Jeremy Pereyra, told Gothamist. "They want us to stop. But we're not going to stop until things get better."

Pereyra says he woke up feeling sick before his 7 a.m. shift began—but couldn't call in two hours ahead of the shift, which he was required to do, because no one arrives at the store until at least 6 a.m.

"My hands are tied at that point," said Pereyra, who's worked at the Sixth Avenue and 56th Street location for about two years. "I'm going to get written up regardless."

He and another worker walked out on the job for Friday's protest, where about 40 or so Chipotle workers and their supporters picketed along Sixth Avenue chanting "if we work sick, then you get sick" and "coronavirus has got to go."

It was the fourth walkout since Wednesday, according to service workers union 32BJ SEIU, which has been working to unionize employees for several months.

Chipotle's chief reputation officer Laurie Schalow said in a statement the company policy is to "fully comply with the Sick and Safe Leave Act."

"Employees that are not feeling well are required to stay home and we'll welcome them back when they are symptom free," she said. "Chipotle’s best-in-class benefits offering includes three paid sick days starting on the first day of employment so there is no accrual period, which is beyond the standard practice for most industries."

Existing protocols of wellness checks, paid sick leave, hygiene and cleanliness are being followed amid the COVID-19 spread, Schalow said. The company also says it offers a quarterly bonus for following food safety procedures.

But during the COVID-19 outbreak, health experts have already raised concerns about how it will impact service workers with little to no sick leave. Nationwide, about one-quarter of American workers have no sick leave, which could exacerbate the spread of COVID-19, the Washington Post reported. One study, per the newspaper, found paid sick leave was linked to lower flu rates in cities that mandated such policies.

"This is a public health issue and a workers' rights issue," Meghan Racklin, women's rights and economic lawyers group A Better Balance, said during the Chipotle protest. "The public health threat of coronavirus has shined a spotlight on the impossible choice that New York and American working families have faced between their health and their livelihood."

Since 2014, New York City workers are supposed to have paid sick leave: five days a year accrued over time. In 2018, the law was expanded to include time off for more than just when workers are sick, including when a worker "or a family member have been the victim of any act or threat of domestic violence."

But some workers don't know about those rights. A Community Service Society survey found that 60 percent of low-income workers in New York City knew little or nothing about the required sick leave time. Of that 60 percent, 42 percent knew nothing about it. For the rest of the state, no such paid sick leave mandate exists, though Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed mandated sick leave this year.

"Our alarm is rising as we're in the midst of a public health crisis," City Councilmember Mark Levine told Gothamist.

Last month, Chipotle settled with the city for illegally firing an employee when she tried to use her sick leave, as required by city law. The settlement came amid a larger investigation the department is conducting into Chipotle's workplace practices. In September, the city sued five Chipotle locations in Brooklyn for violating the fair workweek law. Company employees have pointed out a high-speed, high-pressure work environment with work schedule problems, quotas, physical injuries, and mental stress, which has spurred high turnover and the sense that workers are seen as "disposable."

"We have solid information of practices inside this company that disincentive managers from allowing their staff to take paid sick time, leaving many workers with no choice but to come in when they’re not feeling well," Levine said. "That's dangerous in this climate. It's dangerous in any climate."

This article has been updated to clarify the Community Service Society survey's findings.