By Jessica Karins | Daily Reporter
GREENFIELD — As Hancock County and the rest of the state transition into a gradual lifting of the restrictions imposed to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, more and more people are heading back to work. Businesses that are able to reopen have been ordered to continue observing preventive measures, like operating at a limited capacity and requiring employees to wear personal protective equipment.
But if your employer isn’t complying with those guidelines, what recourse is available? Hoosiers who feel unsafe at work can file a complaint with the Department of Labor, but some Indiana politicians say the state isn’t doing enough to respond to those concerns.
State senators David Niezgodski and Eddie Melton, both Demorats from northern Indiana, held an online news conference last week highlighting the concerns of essential workers. Members of unions representing manufacturers, steelworkers, construction workers and others say they have dealt with issues including inadequate personal protective equipment; refusal to conduct temperature checks of employees; and allowing employees to leave work when co-workers contracted COVID-19.
“Now, as more Hoosiers return to work, it’s even more imperative that all Indiana residents receive assurances that they will go to safe workplaces,” Niezgodski said.
Democratic members of the state Senate, along with labor leaders, have asked the governor to direct the Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration to enforce executive orders on COVID-19 and penalize businesses not following the rules, enforce social distancing standards and provide PPE to workers at businesses that are reopening.
In Holcomb’s Executive Order 20-18, issued April 6, he directed the creation of the Enforcement Response Team, which would be tasked with investigating violations of the state’s coronavirus restrictions. The inter-agency task force is led by the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission.
Workplace safety violations should be reported to the Indiana Occupational Health and Safety Administration, which falls under the Indiana Department of Labor. Complaints can be filed at in.gov/dol.
However, labor department spokeswoman Stephanie McFarland said, IOSHA does have the enforcement authority to require a business to make changes or shut down. That’s because its mission extends to workplace safety standards that are codified into law. Requirements for COVID-19 safety are instead backed by executive order.
Instead, the Enforcement Response Team is tasked with the responsibility of investigating when a business is reported to be open when it should not be or to not be observing proper procedures on cleanliness, social distancing and other prevention measures.
According to the labor department, most of the complaints received have been recorded as unfounded.
“As of Wednesday, May 6, the task force has investigated 1,424 complaints, of which 1,243 have been deemed unfounded, meaning the business was not open or is operating in compliance with the executive order,” the state reported.
The state said that only one cease-and-desist order has been issued ordering a business to close; it was issued on Friday, May 8.
No specific procedure is outlined for the investigation of complaints, and officials did not elaborate in response to a question from the Daily Reporter about how investigations are conducted.
Workplace hazard complaints made to IOSHA can be anonymous, and the department will choose whether the reported behavior warrants an investigation. If so, the employer will be notified and will have seven days to respond with information disputing the claim.
McFarland said IOSHA received 54,000 complaints about workplace safety in the first few weeks of COVID-19 lockdown. That was a rapid and steep increase in the number of complaints the department receives — typically about 12,000 per year.
Most were about whether a business that was continuing to operate fell under the definition of “essential.” Some that were operating had voluntarily shut down by the time IOSHA investigated the complaint.
“We’re getting complaints across the spectrum,” from minor safety concerns to severe issues, McFarland said.
Workers who make a complaint to IOSHA and believe they have been subject to retaliation as a result are able to file a subsequent complaint under the Whistleblower Protection Act, and may also be able to file a lawsuit against their employer.
McFarland encouraged workers who have concerns about the safety of their workplace to address them with their employers directly before filing a complaint. Many complaints can be addressed productively that way, she said, and workers should not assume their employers do not want to do the right thing.
If a business is open, it’s up to the employer to make decisions about who should come into work and who should work from home, McFarland said.
Brigid Kelly is a representative of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, which represents many supermarket employees including those at central Indiana Kroger locations. The union, she said, has been advocating for workers’ protection during the pandemic.
“We want to make sure that our members are as safe as possible when they go to work,” Kelly said.
Kroger employees and other members of the UFCW have been able to work out issues with management through collective bargaining, Kelly said.
“At our work locations, folks can file a grievance and work with their employers,” she said. “One of the great things about being in a union is that you have a voice.”
