Workers feel ‘desperate,’ say Fresno County is ignoring COVID-19 health, safety risks
Frustrated Fresno County employees say the local government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic has been inconsistent, bureaucratic, and jeopardizing to their health and safety.
Employees and union leaders say county officials have not been transparent about infections and exposures. County officials have refused to accommodate at least some at-risk employees, despite having multiple doctor’s notes, forcing some to return to the office or take leave, according to employees.
Jordan Scott, a Fresno County spokesman, on Aug. 5 said officials could not say how many county employees had been infected or exposed in the workplace.
“Regardless of the number, our emphasis from the start has been to provide a safe environment for employees and the public,” he said.
On Aug. 12, Paul Nerland, director of Fresno County Human Resources, told The Bee that 97 employees had tested positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic’s onset in March. But, he said, the real number of infected local government workers is likely higher.
The county’s data is based on the number of employees tested through a county provider. If a government employee tests positive through a non-county provider, that number isn’t in the database, Nerland said.
The county’s handling of employee infections has been even more troubling than the numbers, said Riley Talford, union president for Fresno County SEIU 521. Talford said the county frequently has failed to notify employees when a coworker tested positive for the virus.
Talford said he believes “department heads fear an exodus of employees if they find out that they had an exposure to COVID-19.”
“We would like to have the county to be more upfront in regards to exposure,” he said.
The county’s push to reopen offices has included forcing at least some high-risk employees to stop working from home, said Talford.
“We’ve filed grievances in which employees with underlying health issues, who were once able to telework, were now being recalled to work in the office and no longer being given consideration for their health concerns,” he told The Bee. The grievances also cover various other coronavirus-related complaints.
Fresno County Chief Administrative Officer Jean Rousseau did not address specific questions about worker claims or explain the county’s process for handling workplace coronavirus issues but said the government is committed to protecting employees.
“In the end, we have a commitment to balance both serving the public; especially during the challenges presented by COVID-19 and protecting our employees,” he told The Bee in an email on Aug. 19.
The county has faced criticism for its handling of the pandemic, the push to reopen, and its spending plans. Fresno County is among 38 counties with widespread infection rates, according to state data.
‘Desperate’ Fresno County employee says she’s high-risk for COVID-19
One social services employee spoke with The Bee on condition of anonymity because she feared workplace retaliation.
The 30-year-old employee said, since the pandemic’s outbreak, she’s been working from home and, at times, taking paid leave, but fears her time away from the office is running out. Despite her doctor’s notes describing health conditions that make her more susceptible to bad outcomes from a COVID-19 infection, she said her department is pushing her to return to the workplace.
In an email sent to the employee by the Department of Social Services Personnel, and obtained by The Bee, a county personnel official acknowledges a doctor’s note submitted by the worker.
“The note provided only indicates you are high risk..,” the July email reads. “There isn’t anything stating you need to be off work or any restrictions noted.”
The county’s personnel office initially ordered her to return to the office at the end of July but pushed that date back to the end of August after reviewing multiple notes from the employee’s doctor. However, as of Tuesday, the county is requiring her to use paid sick days through the Families First Coronavirus Response Act to cover the days she’s supposed to be working in the office.
When she runs out of sick days, she said she might be forced to return to the office, even though her health concerns remain unchanged. She continues using one sick day per week to cover the day she’s supposed to be in the office. She said she wants to continue working from home because it’s safer.
“I’m desperate. They refuse to accommodate me even with a note explicitly stating my condition,” the employee told The Bee.
During a June 17 labor management meeting, employee Rene Torres said there were “inconsistencies” in the county’s telework policies.
Talford said the county’s overall handling of the pandemic hasn’t been “uniformed.”
“That is the frustration of employees everywhere,” Talford said.
Dozens of Fresno County employees miss work due to COVID-19
At least some of the county’s effort to return employees to offices appear motivated by the idea that workers are less productive working from home.
That sentiment was expressed by Delfino Neira, director of the Department of Social Services, during the June 17 labor management meeting in Fresno County, according to the meeting minutes.
During that meeting, Neira said the county was going to “reset and reassess” its telework policies and said “when people are in the office is when they are most efficient,” according to the minutes.
However, reached for comment in August, Neira acknowledged having “very little data to support” that claim.
During that same meeting, employee Heather Etheridge said at least some high-risk employees were forced to return to the office or take leave, according to the minutes.
Nerland said employees have several options for taking leave.
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), he said, provides up to 80 hours of paid sick leave for employees to self-quarantine for COVID-19-related issues.
Some employees might qualify for State Disability Insurance and obtain partial wage replacement, he said. Employees can also request annual paid leave donations from coworkers or yearly leave they can pay back later.
“If the employee has exhausted those options and have exhausted PTO, they would be on unpaid leave,” he told The Bee in an email.
On June 14, Yenifer Gallegos-Mejia quit her job as a social work practitioner in the Department of Social Services. In an interview with The Bee, Gallegos-Mejia said the workplace became “very toxic.”
“The lack of response to COVID-19 was a big contributing factor,” she said. “There was a lot of mismanagement to the point where we didn’t really know what to do.”
Workers, she said, need more personal protective equipment and better communication from management.
She takes care of her mother, who has a compromised immune system. Gallegos-Mejia said uncertainty over workplace exposures made her tense.
“It just became too much pressure for me, personally, to handle,” she said.
Nerland said 327 permanent employees had left their positions with the county since March. Of those, 105 were retirements, 44 were for involuntary disciplinary actions, and 178 were resignations.
However, he couldn’t say whether any departures were related to the pandemic.
Fresno County has 7,344 permanent employees, Nerland said. Of those, 2,124 are working from home.
“Some employees may be teleworking on some days and in the office some days,” he said.
Of those working from home, 345 have self-reported a high-risk condition or are 65 or older, Nerland said.
On Aug. 12, 136 county employees were out of work for various reasons tied to the coronavirus, Nerland said. On Aug. 31, the number was down to 70, with the Sheriff’s Office reporting the largest number of absences.
On Aug. 13, the Fresno County Department of Public Health issued a health advisory to remind medical providers that employees can come out of isolation and return to work without a negative test or a doctor’s note as long as they meet a symptom-based criteria.
Fresno County worker fears, frustrations amid COVID-19
In August, the social services worker said she was required to fill out American with Disabilities Act forms and provide notes from her doctor to be allowed to telework full-time without using sick days to remain home. The Bee reviewed her doctor’s notes.
The employee submitted the ADA forms but was told she had to resubmit it because her doctor didn’t specify a disability that limits her from performing essential functions. She doesn’t have a disability, she said.
Still, she said she resubmitted the forms, and on Aug. 18, it was rejected for not having an “end date” for her accommodation.
“In reviewing the information with the staff analyst, we are not able to process the forms because they are not indicating a duration for the limitations,” the Aug. 18 email sent to the employee reads. “We cannot accept “per CDC guidelines for COVID-19” as the expected end date of limitations. We need a duration.”
She said her doctor hadn’t included an end date because no one knows when the pandemic will end. She continued to fight her case with the county this week, she said.
“There’s a lot of issues that the county is ignoring,” the employee told The Bee. “They are not looking at science.”
When an employee submits a doctor’s note for accommodations, an interactive process occurs with the employee following the ADA and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, Nerland said.
“Every situation will be different based on a doctor’s note,” he said.
Neira said his department follows guidance from Human Resources and the county’s Department of Public Health.
“There may be an assignment that a staff person has that requires they work in an office or in the field,” he said. “So, the ability to accommodate these individuals is limited.”
The employee said she fears returning to an office environment.
“I don’t see how they can be so heartless,” the employee said. “They just see us as workers. They are not seeing us as humans that are going through this and going through the trauma of having to go to work in this situation.”
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