Washington State has now released guidelines and requirements for a county-by-county reopening of our state. Each county in the state is expected to move through these phases as they meet the requirements for moving to the next phase, based on an assessment of COVID-19 disease activity, health care system readiness, testing capacity, the ability to investigate and trace cases, and the ability to protect high-risk people. 

Read the state’s guidelines and the four phases of reopening here 

Importantly, there are requirements for employers during all four phases designed to keep people safe at work. No matter what phase your county is in, your employer is required to: 

• Maintain six-foot physical distancing requirements for employees and patrons 

• Adopt other prevention measures such as barriers to block sneezes and coughs when physical distancing is not possible for a particular job task 

• Provide you with and require you to wear cloth facial coverings (unless your exposure dictates an even higher level of protection, or you work alone without interacting with people, or you are or must communicate with someone deaf or hard of hearing who relies on visual language cues) – This requirement begins on June 8 

• Allow you to wear your own facial coverings at work as long as it meets the minimum requirements 

• Identify and provide you with adequate personal protective equipment in accordance with Labor & Industries requirements and specific COVID-19 standards 

• Limit close interactions with patrons while providing services 

• Provide adequate sanitation and personal hygiene for workers, vendors, and patrons 

• Ensure you have access to hand washing facilities so you can wash your hands frequently with soap and running water 

• Ensure frequent cleaning and disinfection of the business, particularly of high-touch surfaces 

• Follow Governor Inslee’s proclamation protecting high-risk workers – Find a link to that proclamation here (Note: This proclamation is set to expire on June 12, but we expect it will be extended by the governor) 

• Educate workers about COVID-19 in a language you best understand 

• Have a plan for dealing with workers who are sick, including requiring COVID-19 positive employees to stay home and potentially restricting employees who were directly exposed to that employee 

• Follow CDC cleaning guidelines to deep clean after reports of an employee with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 illness – this may involve the closure of a business until it can be properly disinfected 

• Implement other practices appropriate for specific types of businesses on a case-by-case basis, as directed by federal, state and local public health and workplace safety officials, such as screening of employees for illness and exposures upon work entry, requiring non-cash transactions, etc. 

• Implement any health and safety requirements developed specifically for your industry, comply with COVID-19 worksite-specific safety practices, and keep a safe and healthy facility in accordance with state and federal law 

If your employer does not follow all of these regulations all the time, you can report them for not keeping you, your coworkers, and your community safe. You can file a safety report with the union by emailing your name, work location, and safety issue to safetyreport@ufcw21.org. You can also contact the state’s Department of Safety and Health call center at 1-800-423-7233 or via e-mail to adag235@lni.wa.gov, and you can report a lack of social distancing via online form here. 

Our state also reminds everyone that it is against the law for any employer to take any adverse action such as firing, demotion, or otherwise retaliate against a worker they suspect of exercising safety and health rights such as raising safety and health concerns to their employer, participating in union activities concerning safety and health matters, filing a safety and health complaint or participating in a DOSH investigation. Workers have 30 days to file a complaint with L&I DOSH and/or with Federal OSHA.