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by Dennis De Peiza
It is the understanding that employees within essential industries are required to report for duty in the time of a declared national emergency.
The term “essential workers” is generally applied to workers in law enforcement and public safety, food production, health care providers, emergency personnel, amongst others. When it comes to determining who falls into the category of an essential worker or a frontline worker, this remains the subject of an ongoing debate.
In an attempt to bring clarity to this matter, frontline workers are described as employees in an organisation that provide some essential service to the general public. Not all essential workers are considered frontline workers. This is so, as some essential workers can work from home, while frontline workers usually have to report in-person to complete their job responsibilities. The point is to be reiterated that the distinction is based on how much interaction they have with people, and whether these are customers or clients of the service provided. The bottom line is that frontline workers are more likely to interact face-to-face with customers and clients, more so than essential workers.
The COVID 19 pandemic has to some extent, stimulated the debate as to what category of employees fall into the category of essential and frontline workers. The debate tends to deepen, when it focuses on which of the two categories of workers is more potentially at the risk of contracting the disease. Some may argue that the matter is not a contentious issue. This is based on the grounds that all remain vulnerable, particularly where the COVID 19 protocols are not followed. While this maybe so, a strong case can be made that the level of exposure based on the nature of the job, must be a defining point in deciding on those who can be placed in the category of an essential or frontline worker.
In every society, healthcare is considered as an essential service. This is supported by the fact that the interim list of categories of essential workers which is mapped to standardized industries codes and titles, places healthcare in the number one position. It has been established that essential healthcare workers are all paid and unpaid persons serving in healthcare settings, who have the potential for direct or indirect exposure to patients or infectious materials. This is to include persons not directly involved in patient care, but potentially exposed to infectious agents while working in a healthcare setting.
On the other hand, essential non-healthcare workers are persons who are essential to maintaining critical infrastructure and continued critical services and functions.
In most countries, the list of essential services includes administration and governance, law and order- (Police, Prison and the law courts), defence and security, health and social care services, Pharmacy services, utilities services of water and electricity, sanitation and public transport. Jyoti Patel, author of the article,
What is a Frontline Employee or Key Worker, identifies with the categories of key workers and frontline staff as published by the Department of Education in the United Kingdom. These are Health and Social Care, Education and Childcare, key Public Services, local and national government, food and goods provision and public safety and national security.
Health and social care includes doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedics and social workers. Those who work in social care sector, such as teachers, and specialist education professionals, fall in the Education and Childcare group.
The category of local and national government, accounts for those working in the payment of benefits and the delivery of special services. The food and goods provision category includes workers in the food production and distribution supply chain, as well as those in sales and delivery. It also includes those who work in the production of hygiene and medical goods. The all-important category of public safety and national security, includes the police, Ministry of Defence, armed forces, fire service employees, security, prisons and probation staff.
The importance of frontline workers is underscored by information coming out of the United States of America. It is reported that 42 per cent of all workers are frontline workers, and that 20 per cent of all frontline workers in the United States are members of the health care sector.
The point is advanced that frontline workers tend to receive lower-than-average wages as compared to the overall group of essential workers. The contention is that frontline workers are typically less educated, with a higher share of high school dropouts. There is the observation that frontline workers tend to make more through unemployment benefits than working their actual job. This means that wages are generally too low for these workers. Finally, frontline workers sometimes lack insurance benefits and paid sick leave.
Those working on the frontline have the advantage of having immediate access to the COVID-19 vaccine. Due to the nature of their work and proximity to the public, it becomes necessary to vaccinate frontline employees. Frontline workers ought to receive recognition for the work they have done during the height of the pandemic.
It would however seem to be a responsible thing for those in the healthcare sector, if they were to lead by example in the taking of the vaccine. They ought to be a consciousness that while they work to save the lives of others, they would want to mitigate their risk of exposure to the virus. More so, the protecting of their patients, family members and members of the public from transmission of the virus from them, should be a matter of active consideration.
With the understanding that all essential and frontline workers will come into face-to face contact with the members of the public on a daily basis, and recognizing that there is the potential of becoming infected with the COVID-19 virus or being responsible for spreading it, then there is every good reason to immediately act to reduce this threat. It therefore becomes essential and an important part of the duty of the individual as a service provider to his/ her customers, to negate the risk of spreading the COVID-19 virus, by giving serious consideration to being COVID-19 vaccinated and tested,
as the need arises.
Limiting the spread of the COVID-19 virus ought to be the responsibility of everyone. In doing so, it helps the country to move past the pandemic and allows workers to transition back to their accustomed work and social life.
Dennis De Peiza is a Labour & Employee Relations Consultant at Regional Management Services Inc. website: www.regionalmanagement services.com
