Charlotte area employers push sick time or work from home plans as coronavirus spreads

Bankers, waiters, local government workers and grocery store clerks in the Charlotte area are among the employees seeing more flexible policies on the job regarding sick time or working from home.

All this comes as North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper declared a state of emergency Tuesday to deal with the novel coronavirus. Seven people so far in North Carolina have tested positive for COVID-19, the illness caused by the new virus, according to state health officials. Most cases are in Wake County. None have been reported in Mecklenburg County.

One of the biggest employers in the region detailed what was happening with its workforce during a Congressional hearing. Wells Fargo had 62,000 of its 260,000 employees work from home Monday, CEO Charles Scharf said in response to questions on the coronavirus. The San Francisco-based bank has 27,000 Charlotte-area employees.

“Our business continuity plans are designed to safeguard and protect employees, customers and business operations,” said Wells Fargo spokesman Peter Gilchrist.

Chain stores with Charlotte locations also are making changes to sick-leave policies.

Grocer Trader Joe’s is encouraging workers to stay home if they feel ill, Business Insider reported Tuesday, and will get reimbursed for time off.

Darden Restaurants, parent company of Olive Garden, Longhorn Steakhouse, The Capital Grille, Eddie V’s and Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen with Charlotte locations, announced Monday it was speeding up its plan to begin offering paid sick leave time, industry publication Nation’s Restaurant News first reported.

It affects more than 180,000 workers, including about 1,000 in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg area, company spokesman Rich Jeffers told the Observer.

“We have been working on this for quite some time. However, we did accelerate rolling it out to our team members given the current environment,” Jeffers said.

According to the new policy that went into effect Monday, hourly workers will accrue sick time at a rate of one hour for every 30 hours worked. Current workers have been given a starting balance based on their 26 weeks of work and can use the new benefit immediately.

City, county employees

The city of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County on Monday emailed updates to employees about the status of COVID-19 and alerted employees about its policies, while noting “immediate health risk of COVID-19 (or Coronavirus) to the public in North Carolina is considered low.”

“Any time an employee experiences an active illness that may be contagious or may have a condition that compromises his/her immune system, we expect the employee to exercise reasonable and practical precaution,” city spokesman Cory Burkarth told the Observer Tuesday. “Many city departments already have in place measures to allow tele-work, if that is practical.”

However, 75% of city workers are front line service operations, he said.

Both city and county are following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance plan that states employees who traveled to certain countries should not physically return to the workplace for at least 14 days if he or she is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 — fever, cough and shortness of breath.

“We are examining our leave policies to help ensure they are appropriate for the current situation,” according to the emails.

All non-essential air travel has been suspended for city and county employees.

Wells Fargo last week restricted all non-essential air travel in the U.S. Mooresville-based Lowe’s Home Improvement suspended travel to and from Asia late last month.

Reporter Austin Weinstein contributed to this report

This story was originally published March 10, 2020 at 3:10 PM with the headline "Charlotte area employers push sick time or work from home plans as coronavirus spreads."