The first Costco employee who spoke with BuzzFeed News said that many corporate, or “Home Office,” workers had emailed management about the new rules. “The governor is also asking for workplaces to look into telework options for employees.” “The governor also strongly encouraged state residents to practice social distancing, which means individuals should try to stay six feet or at least an arm’s length from each other,” Inslee staffers said. On March 11, Inslee banned events consisting of more than 250 people, noting in his statement that “the virus has hit King County the hardest.” “All of our lives are being put at risk just for profits,” the employee told the paper. ![]() “The decision may be unpopular with some, but we consider it a matter of equity and fairness,” they wrote.Ĭostco leadership said that employees who were unwell or at a higher risk of catching the virus could use their sick leave or PTO to stay home and that “these absences will be excused.”Ī Costco employee told the Seattle Times earlier this month that the company has “every ability to let employees work from home and many successfully have and do.” Thus, Costco executives said, corporate employees must continue to go to the office to “support our retail business.” In the March 4 email that was viewed by BuzzFeed News, the company’s senior leaders, led by CEO Craig Jelinek, explained that while “some local companies are reportedly allowing employees to work from home,” Costco is a “retail business” and “a great number of Costco employees locally and across the country cannot work from home.” Radio station KUOW reported earlier this month on a Costco memo requiring workers to continue to come into the office despite hundreds of other Seattle companies, including behemoths like Amazon and Microsoft, following health officials’ directives to let employees work from home. The bulk of patients, 569, live in King County and of the 52 people who have died in the state as of Tuesday, 43 of them were from that area. ![]() Jay Inslee signed an emergency aid bill for the state after the number of confirmed cases topped 1,000. “More cases? More deaths? A sudden quarantine that interrupts the whole campus?” “What is going to take for Costco Execs to change their path?” one staffer wrote on an employee bulletin board March 6, when the county’s death toll had hit 10. "We are also working on alternative solutions to speed the process up," he wrote, addressing the fact that those who felt uncomfortable being onsite while waiting for a remote solution could clock out and would still be paid "normal shift hours until we are able to get a solution set up for you."įor the past few weeks, Costco has kept its sprawling campus in Issaquah, Washington, open and its several thousand workers in the office, as employees voiced concerns and fears about their health and safety as the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths continued to mount in the region. Managers contacted those individuals who sat by or shared a vanpool with the victim and "they are self-quarantining for two weeks." IT staff is working "as quickly as possible to provide remote work solutions for those of you who have requested it." On Wednesday around 11:30 a.m., Peter Gruening, the general manager of Costco Travel, sent an update to the department explaining the steps the company has taken to mitigate the impact of their "known Covid-19 employee." ![]() "While this statement may not specifically address your inquiry, please understand that we will not be able to respond to your specific questions." ![]() "Costco is not staffed to respond individually to all these questions," she wrote. She said the company had received several media inquiries about their response to the coronavirus outbreak and their measures to keep shoppers safe. When contacted for comment by BuzzFeed News, a Costco spokesperson responded after this story was first published. News of the employee’s death was first published Tuesday by the Seattle radio station KTTH. "Employees have to choose between a check or their health," said a second employee, who also asked to remain anonymous. “Someone died and they’re still keeping the building open and having us come in.” “The company has handled everything very poorly,” a Costco employee, who works in a nearby building on the campus and who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of losing her job, told BuzzFeed News. An employee who worked at Costco Wholesale’s corporate headquarters near Seattle died Sunday after contracting COVID-19, according to an internal email obtained by BuzzFeed News, and some employees are upset the company is refusing to fully close the campus or direct all employees to work from home.
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