Greater COVID protections urged; Baltimore County IG needs more authority

Rise in COVID, flu, RSV means Marylanders need workplace protections

Yet again, Marylanders find themselves amid a winter of spiking COVID-19, influenza and RSV cases and scarce hospital beds — all while employees face mounting pressures to return to the office. It’s a national problem, but without federal safeguards, workplace protections are drastically uneven from state to state. Many Maryland workers have had no protection against retaliation for seeking to avoid COVID exposure, or exposure to other respiratory illnesses, caring for sick children or family members or raising concerns about workplace COVID safety. With a new governor and legislative session kicking off next week, our state has an opportunity to right this wrong.

Some Maryland employees may be entitled to up to eight days of sick leave under the state’s Healthy Working Families Act, which became law in 2017. But the law doesn’t allow for time off if an employee has been exposed to COVID-19, is needed to care for a family member, or requires more than eight days of sick leave per year.

Since the COVID state of emergency was lifted in February, and as debates rage on about what behaviors are worth the risk, many Maryland workers find themselves without options. They can either have their job and risk COVID exposure or exposing others to COVID or they can face serious consequences.

Currently, in most circumstances, employers can require an employee who has been exposed to COVID-19, or who is needed to care for a child with COVID-19, to be present in the workplace. Often, nothing prohibits the employer from terminating or taking other action against an employee who stays home for these reasons.

Similarly, an employer may be able to terminate an employee who notifies other employees about potential exposure to illness or who voices disagreement about an employer’s COVID-19 policies. This puts us all at greater risk of illness, but workers who are immunocompromised or have other comorbidities are particularly vulnerable. This lack of protections for employees who are trying to keep their families, coworkers and themselves safe is inconsistent with public policy goals of curbing transmission of serious viruses.

Some states and municipal governments have sought to fill in the gaps and curb the spread of infectious diseases by enacting provisions that prohibit employers from retaliating against employees who use leave related to COVID — whether their own illness or to care for a family member. California and New York, among other states, have expanded sick leave protections to explicitly include quarantine periods to allow for care of family members and to address other illnesses, such as RSV and monkeypox.

As Gov.-elect Wes Moore prepares to take office, he has an opportunity to ensure all Marylanders have basic COVID workplace protections. Though life is “back to normal” for many, the reality is that COVID and other respiratory illnesses are still a risk to our communities, and they aren’t going anywhere. If anything, the pandemic has highlighted the shortcomings in sick leave laws and the need to expand sick leave protections in Maryland. Workers should not be at their employers’ mercy for seeking to protect themselves, their families and their colleagues from exposure to a potentially life-threatening illness.

Cori Cohen, Silver Spring

Cori Cohen is a partner at Silver Spring-based Gilbert Employment Law, focusing on employment litigation.

Baltimore County inspector general vital to rooting out corruption

It seems that Baltimore County government wants a watchdog, but not one with really sharp teeth.

One move to blunt Inspector General Kelly Madigan’s ability to ferret out misconduct, fiscal and otherwise, collapsed under public outrage.

Public officials hate having someone looking over their shoulders. But, let’s face it, they need someone looking. Look at the shenanigans that IG Madigan has already uncovered.

As a reporter, I covered Baltimore County, off and on, from 1962 to 1998, from executives [Spiro] Ted Agnew to Dennis Rasmussen. Agnew resigned as vice president, and his county successor, Dale Anderson, went to prison for corruption.

The feds made those cases. Perhaps, if there had been a Kelly Madigan at work, they’d have caught the corruption sooner.

Recently, a proposal surfaced to give IG Madigan authority as IG for the school system. It’s a brilliant idea that should have been done years ago. The county school system believes that it is sacrosanct, never to be touched by political hands. In a perfect world, that might be true. But while some of what falls into the IG’s hands is deliberate misconduct, more is probably ignorance or incompetence.

Instead of being weakened, the inspector general’s authority should broadened and strengthened to the fullest extent possible.

A good watchdog with sharp teeth is the best protection for the public purse, and that’s what it’s all about, anyway.

Robert A. Erlandson, Towson

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