HOUSTON – Some businesses are preparing to reopen their doors on Friday with limited capacity Friday following the governor’s orders to reopening Texas during the coronavirus pandemic.
Employment attorney, Rogge Dunn, addressed some of the questions regarding workers’ rights as they re-enter the workforce.
Q: What if I feel healthy, but don’t want to go back to work? Do I have to?
“If they are healthy and they don’t fit into one of the emergency family medical leave exceptions, they have to go back to work," Dunn said. "Having said that, OSHA laws require employers to provide a safe workplace and there are instances where employees have said the workplace is not safe, that there isn’t PPE and masks and therefore, it is an unsafe condition and I’m refusing to go to work and that obviously has some potential consequences.”
Q: What if the business reopens but I don’t have anyone to care for my child?
Dunn cites the family medical leave act, saying, “If you have a child that would have been in school or would have been in daycare and you are a parent taking care of them, the employer can’t force you to come into work."
Dunn said there will be some grey area on this subject if children are home during the summer break but daycare isn’t an option.