The image is by Alex Castro.
CNBC and the Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon has changed its policy for workers who are forced to suck up phlegm. The policy has been reduced from 14 days to one week, which is still mentioned on an Amazon hiring page. According to the report, the CDC has updated its recommendations for people who have tested positive for COVID to stay away from others for five days if their symptoms are gone.
Along with the federal government, Amazon is changing its policies. Walmart has cut down on the number of employees who are able to take a leave of absence. The American Rescue Plan expired on September 30th, leaving state and local governments to decide the rules for themselves.
Some health experts are concerned about employees who are still sick having to work.
The recommended isolation time was reduced from ten days to five in the new guidance from the CDC. Public health experts say it is supported by research, but some are concerned about employees who are still sick being brought back to work. There are additional leave options available for individuals who remainsymptomatic beyond one week, according to a copy of Amazon's revised policy seen by The Verge.
If an employee is not paid to stay home, they may have to return to work.
Amazon doesn't have a single directive for how its office employees will return to in-person work, instead allowing individual teams to decide how much of their work should be remote. This isn't the case for jobs like Amazon's warehouse workers, delivery drivers, IT staff working on the cloud, and more. Amazon lifted its mask mandate for warehouse workers in November.
Amazon didn't respond to The Verge's request for comment.
