For seven years, Mike worked as a bellhop at a Marriott hotel in Florida. “I had one of the best jobs ever,” Mike, who asked to be referred to by a pseudonym because he fears retribution from his employer, told Vox. That all changed last week, when he and tens of thousands of other Marriott workers abruptly lost their jobs.

The hotel conglomerate, which operates more than 6,900 properties worldwide, is one of many companies that has reduced its workforce in response to the coronavirus. Mike isn’t surprised he lost his job — if there’s one thing people likely aren’t doing amid a pandemic, it’s going on vacation — but he doesn’t agree with the way Marriott went about it.

In an average year, Mike makes about $60,000, much of which comes from tips. He’s received just one week of severance pay despite his seven years on the job, calculated using his base pay instead of his tipped wage. “It’s distasteful, disrespectful, and disappointing,” he said. “Marriott’s creed is ‘Take care of our employees so they take care of our guests,’ and they’re not really living that.”

A Marriott spokesperson clarified that no one had technically been laid off, but that tens of thousands of workers were being furloughed indefinitely. The company declined to tell Vox how much severance workers would receive, but an internal email sent to some employees says that full-time employees would receive 40 hours of pay while part-timers would get half that. 

Hundreds of thousands of people are in a similar position, or may be soon. More than 3 million people filed for unemployment last week, according to data from the Department of Labor. It’s possible that millions more will soon lose their jobs. The hospitality industry is particularly vulnerable: The American Hotel & Lodging Association, a lobbying group for the industry, warns that 44 percent of hotel employees in the US could be laid off or furloughed because of the virus.

For workers like Mike, the problem isn’t just a loss of income, it’s how employers are structuring severance packages and communicating about furloughs and layoffs. 

In Houston, workers at the dining room of the Post Oak Hotel — which is owned by billionaire Tilman Fertitta, the CEO of the restaurant conglomerate Landry’s — were reportedly told they wouldn’t be able to get their sick days or other time off paid out to make up for lost hours while the restaurant was closed for eat-in service. The hotel then backtracked, telling the Houston Chronicle that employees would be able to use their paid time off.

The Starr Restaurant Group in Philadelphia, which also placed its workers on indefinite furlough, similarly told employees they wouldn’t be able to use vacation or sick days to keep getting paid after the restaurants shut down. A Starr representative later told Eater Philadelphia that the restaurant group was in the process of paying out “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in sick leave.

The problem isn’t limited to restaurants and hotels. Last week, the president and CEO of Cirque du Soleil laid off 95 percent of the entertainment company’s staff via video, Jezebel reports. “I wish I had a chance to speak to you in person,” CEO Daniel Lamarre said in the video. “Unfortunately, given the current pandemic, a video was the best option for me to speak to all of you at the same time, and most importantly, protect your health.” 

Full-time workers will have health insurance coverage for up to six months, but most won’t be able to use their accrued paid time off if they want to receive unemployment. According to the Jezebel report, workers asked if they would have their PTO paid out and were told no, because that would mean they had “quit” and wouldn’t qualify for unemployment benefits. (Cirque du Soleil didn’t respond to The Goods’ request for comment.)

Retailers are also shutting down operations across the country, leaving thousands of people without work; even direct-to-consumer brands that primarily fulfill orders online are feeling the squeeze. Everlane and Glossier closed their physical retail locations, though both brands said workers would be compensated until the stores opened again. Workers at other direct-to-consumer brands, however, say they were let go without notice or severance. 

ThirdLove, a bra brand that trades on its feminist messaging and was previously investigated by Vox, laid off the entire retail staff for its New York pop-up without any notice, a person with knowledge of the situation said. The staffers initially weren’t offered severance and didn’t even get a phone call, said the source, who spoke to Vox on condition of anonymity.  

“They said online they offered severance and benefits to the team,” the source said, noting the company also posted this information on Instagram, “but they hadn’t actually formally communicated anything to the team.” The source said some staffers posted about the disparity between ThirdLove’s public statement and their experience on social media, but those posts now appear to have been deleted.

“It definitely felt like the post they did was only because they were worried about the tweets and stuff becoming a thing,” the source said. “Two weeks [of payroll] shouldn’t bankrupt the company. It just seems like they’re behaving poorly.”

A ThirdLove spokesperson said around 10 people were affected by the layoffs, and that the brand chose to let each person know individually rather than in a larger meeting. ThirdLove CEO Heidi Zak told The Goods all laid-off retail staffers were offered severance, but didn’t clarify how much.

Workers at more established retailers aren’t safe from layoffs, either. New York City’s famous Strand bookstore laid off 188 employees, who reportedly received severance and had their vacation and sick time paid out. Powell’s, an Oregon-based bookstore, also laid off most of its staff. Oregon Live reports that employees were told their health insurance would only cover them until the end of the month they were last employed. If a worker was laid off on March 16, for example, they’d only be insured through March 31 — leaving them vulnerable during a particularly precarious time. 

In a statement to Vox, ILWU Local 5, the union representing Powell’s employees, said it was “gravely disappointed” with the way the company handled the layoffs. 

“While many other small businesses who are hurting have found ways to support and assist their staff during this time, reaching out to the greater community for support and ideas, the leader — arguably — of the independent bookselling world has so far done the bare minimum,” the union said. “The decision to lay workers off without reasonable provisions for their well-being will have a deep and lasting impact not only to them, but to the community at large. In this society, for any crisis event, it appears it is the workers who take the brunt of trauma.”

While laid-off and furloughed workers wonder how they’ll pay the bills in the middle of a global health crisis, the retail employees expected to continue showing up to work are dealing with a different, equally pressing problem: staying healthy.

Employees at Walmart and Target, both of which have been deemed essential businesses and are therefore allowed to stay open, told the Guardian their managers weren’t doing enough to protect them. “I’m 64 years old and according to the CDC, I should be staying home and practicing social distancing and in quarantine,” one Walmart employee told the paper. “So I go to work and pray that none of the hordes of shoppers I’m exposed to … transmit it to me. The thing that scares me most is getting exposed and passing it to my 84-year-old mother.”

Walmart lets workers take unpaid time off, but for employees who can’t afford it, that policy is virtually meaningless. Target gives paid leave to workers over 65 and to those with underlying medical conditions — but new reports suggest that young, healthy people are increasingly falling sick with the coronavirus too.

Warehouse workers are also under pressure. Several Amazon warehouse workers told BuzzFeed News that the e-commerce company’s fulfillment centers aren’t properly equipped with cleaning supplies like hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes. Like Walmart, Amazon is letting workers take unpaid time off — but that also means employees who are able to work have to make up for lost worker power during a surge in orders.

Retail, grocery, and warehouse jobs are among the few options left for people who have lost work due to the virus; Walmart, Target, and Amazon have all said they plan to hire hundreds of thousands of new employees in the coming months. Recently laid-off workers, especially those who have barely received any severance, now find themselves in a difficult position: rely on unemployment benefits to pay the bills, or take a job where the risk of exposure to the coronavirus is even higher.

For some, steady income may be more appealing — or more necessary — than unemployment checks, which are typically capped at a percentage of one’s former income. But working in the middle of a pandemic comes with its own risks when you can’t work from home. Some workers may benefit from the $1,200 stimulus checks the federal government is expected to send out soon, but those one-time payments will only go so far.

Mike, the former Marriott bellhop, said he’s still weighing his options. “I haven’t figured it out yet,” he said. “I was considering getting a job at a grocery store, but I have no solid plan for the moment.”

As the coronavirus spreads to more and more cities in the US, restaurants across the country are scaling back their services — or shutting their doors altogether — to help slow the spread of the disease. Some cities, including San Francisco, have ordered all non-essential businesses to close indefinitely. In some cases, this means bars and restaurants can stay open, but only for takeout and delivery (which have been classified as essential). This precaution cuts down on foot traffic but also means lower wages for staffers who rely on tips to make ends meet.

I spoke to seven current and former food-service employees about their experiences working in restaurants, bars, and cafés as Covid-19 spread to all 50 states — and about how they’re faring now. Some are still showing up to work; others have filed for unemployment. Some are worried about being exposed to the virus or exposing someone else. And they’re all worried about paying their bills now that food-service jobs are disappearing everywhere, with no end in sight.

These interviews have been condensed and edited for clarity.

Connor, worked at a small neighborhood bistro in Pennsylvania

Hourly wage before tips: $2.80

When all the sporting events started to get canceled and when we found out Tom Hanks got it, we figured it was about to hit the fan. But up until then, it was barely even discussed at my place.

Before we closed, the servers were taking it more seriously than the customers. Sunday night, every single time someone came in, we found ourselves feeling a weird mixture of gratitude and irritation. We were thinking, “It’s good that we’re working, because we’ll need the money, but on the flip side, is no one paying attention?”

The last day I worked was Sunday night [the 14th]. We usually get an email Saturday or Sunday with our schedule. We got it this Sunday with a message [from] our manager saying, “Some shifts have been cut back because we don’t know what’s going on.” Then the city said all non-essential businesses need to close, and we got an email saying we’re closed for two weeks. No one in the front of the house — hosts, bussers, and servers — will be needed for at least two weeks.

I can’t speak for every restaurant, but tips were 90 percent of my income. My hourly income goes to my taxes, so I get a $0 paycheck every two weeks.

I saved pretty well, so I’ll be good for a couple of months, but everyone I’ve talked to is in a worse situation than I am. Some of their bank accounts are in the negative already, because you’re living week-to-week depending on how busy the restaurant is. Me and a lot of my friends are hoping that it gets solved as quickly as possible. I think people are intentionally not thinking too far out, because we’ll be terrified.

Mai, worked at a Vietnamese restaurant in New York City

Hourly wage before tips: $10

We started losing customers when the first cases in New York were announced. First the locals stopped coming, then the NYU students. There was a time when only the international students were coming.

We’re a big college-campus restaurant, so we rely on students a lot. When they go on break, we cut our shifts. Our shifts started getting cut [the second week in March]. We had two servers and two bussers on the floor, and then we just had one busser and one server. We used to fill the restaurant; we’d have lines out the door. Last week, after the schools had closed, we didn’t have anyone for the first hour, and we maybe filled half the store. During peak season, if I worked four days, which is 27 hours, I’d make like $650 a week, which came out to around $25 an hour, more or less, depending on the tips. Last week, we went from 150 tickets a shift to 20 tickets a shift. Minimum wage is $10 an hour, so we basically just made $70 a shift.

Then they closed.

It’s a small family business. Most of the people who work there are people the owner knows personally, and none of us are career servers. I’m not sure if it’s within his means to give anyone PTO, especially not now. I feel like it’s the government’s job to bail everyone out.

Abe, worked as a bartender at a bar in Maryland

Hourly wage before tips: $3.63

As there were more cases here in Maryland, [foot traffic] started to slow down a lot. There were people who thought it was a joke and were waiting for it to blow over, and people who were canceling reservations or just not coming in at all. I worked at a speakeasy-style cocktail bar. It has a dark, 1920s kind of feel. It started to get a little eerie when it was just empty.

I actually woke up and saw [that we were closing down] on one of the owner’s Instagram [pages], and a few hours later I got an email saying we had been laid off. It said we were all on layoff status, with a link to Maryland’s unemployment [website]. It said if we aren’t all back by March 31, then we all lose our health insurance.

There was no severance. Any gift cards that are sold now, the owners are matching that and it’s going into a pool for all the employees. Mind you, the restaurant group has 1,500 employees. We have 10 restaurants in the city. They also put together a family meal for us to go pick up food at one of the restaurants, but by the time I got there, they had closed it because they had already run out of food. The Baltimore Bartenders’ Guild put together a virtual tip jar that you can add your name to with your Cash App or Venmo next to it. People can go in and pick you out by either restaurant or name.

I also work in the music industry. I do marketing and hospitality and run an electronic music production company. We canceled a handful of shows. Not only did we not make any money off the shows, but the deposits we put down on artists, sound people, [and] lighting are just completely gone. We’re a couple thousand in the hole right now. All of those artists, and our company as a whole, are hurting. The restaurant industry is hurting, all of the things that got shut down are hurting. We bail out big corporations; I think it’s time we bail out the people that keep the economy going to begin with.

I’m making craft cocktails and bottling them and driving around making deliveries, just to make money now. I just started it up, and it’s been going well. I just had to make another case; I literally just finished capping all the bottles. I take the same precautions as when I bartend. I wear gloves because I’m touching people’s food products, and I have a mask. I’m not too worried about myself — I feel like my immune system is pretty good — but I don’t want to pass anything along to anyone else.

Peter, worked as a barista in Massachusetts

Hourly wage before tips: $15

I think my employers were ahead of what the city governments were asking. The city of Cambridge, where two of the shops are, was pretty quick-acting. The main shop is [in] Arlington, which had some of the initial cases from this Biogen meeting. It was the beginning of last week, I think [on March 8 or 9], that the town put out their first initial warning.

I was making huge batches of pre-mixed bleach and water that would sanitize surfaces, and trying to remind everyone that it’s particularly important now to use this on places where people are touching, like the door.

It wasn’t really until Sunday or Monday that we had fewer people actually coming into the stores, and what they were getting when they were coming in was different. Instead of getting lattes and sitting down in the store for an hour — this is before we had to start removing seating — people would get something to go, and an additional bag of coffee or a four-pack of cold brew for later.

All of the stores are closed now. One of the stores was open until noon Wednesday [the 18th], and that was going to be the end of it for the foreseeable future. I filed for unemployment in the state of Massachusetts about two hours ago.

Before that, a lot of regulars who came in left a $5 tip when they’d normally leave a single dollar. I appreciate that, and I appreciate that they’re trying to do their part to make sure the shop stays afloat, but I think if economic relief packages [were] in place, we wouldn’t have to have these conversations. If the owners of the shop where I work already knew, for example, that they could get a zero-interest loan from the federal government — which is something the government has done a few times in history — they wouldn’t have to be thinking, “Should we stay open because we need the money?”

If I knew I was going to get a $1,000 check in a few weeks, I wouldn’t have to think about whether I should be going to work and possibly being another transmission vector. I think solving the economic problems is a public health issue before it’s anything else.

Calden, works at a local coffee shop in Colorado

Hourly wage before tips: $15

On Monday, the governor closed all bars, restaurants, gyms, things like that. Restaurants are still allowed to do takeout and delivery, but the process of shutting down is starting pretty rapidly here.

After cases started to hit the US, we amped up our hygiene process really rapidly. We were cleaning things every hour on the hour: wiping down tables, cleaning handles, cleaning other things. We stopped accepting people’s personal cups to take with them, and we set up curbside orders. The people who own our business were taking it pretty seriously.

We haven’t seen a huge slowdown yet so we’re not super-worried yet, but I’m sure in the next couple of days it’ll definitely hit us pretty hard.

I don’t think there’s as much of a concern about getting sick as there is an economic concern. I’m definitely worried about paying rent and buying groceries, but I graduated recently and am actively paying student loans, so it’s hard to balance what that’s going to look like in the future — just in the next month, too. I live pretty [much] paycheck to paycheck, so we’ll see how it goes.

I definitely think there should be something that’s done at the government level, supplying businesses with the cash flow to be able to keep going and to be able to pay workers. A lot of people live paycheck to paycheck, and there’s a lot of uncertainty of what’s going to come next. In food service, tips are really important. That’s sometimes how I pay for my groceries. So I hope there’s some sort of intervention. At least deferring rent payments and bills, or even just supplying a check so people are able to afford necessities.

Marcus*, worked as a bartender in California

Hourly wage before tips: $15

I worked at a bar that was famous for being open all the time. It opens at 6 am and closes at 2 am — it’s a colorful crowd. I was watching a lot of news coverage about the virus and I felt very conflicted about exposing myself or exposing [people there], but it was a rock-and-a-hard-place thing. The bar was still open and I was still on duty. A lot of clientele are industry folks, other restaurant and bar staff, hotel folks. More than anything, they were just kind of pissed about how it was affecting them. I had one hotel guy come in and say they’re usually at 75 percent capacity year-round, and now they were at under 10 percent capacity. Everyone was getting their shifts cut.

During my shift, the governor decreed all bars and restaurants should close, so I had to do last call and lock the place up in the middle of the day. It was surreal. The owner of the bar sent a mass text out to everyone saying that because he’s so uncertain as to how [long] things will be like this, he advises everyone to file for unemployment.

The thoughts around money are pretty bleak. My wife works in a cash business as well — she’s part of a marijuana delivery service, and they were just shut down last night [on March 16], too. We have a lot of cash at the house because I make tips and she gets paid in cash, and then we’ll usually deposit it all once every month or so. Now we’ve got quite a bit of cash on hand and we’re not depositing it.

It’d be great if the owner of my bar could somehow sustain me financially during this time, but that’s a tough expectation for a small-business owner who just had their income cut to zero as well. It just doesn’t seem realistic. It seems like something bigger is probably required. A large governmental response makes sense, because how else could you fix things at this scale? Right now, things seem like a random patchwork of localities and businesses and people trying to do what’s right and what’s best, but there’s not really been a broad and sweeping response.

Billy, works at a bakery and a restaurant bar in Colorado

Hourly wage before tips: $8.15

I live with someone who is immunosuppressed. She has a weak respiratory system, and I was considering not coming in and using sick days for her sake, even though I don’t get paid sick time from either job. The bosses at the restaurant job gave me this guilt trip attitude of, “You’re low risk, it’s not that big a deal, don’t stress about it so much.”

At the restaurant job, they began implementing more safety measures. They were like, “Start washing your hands more often, pay attention if you’re feeling ill and don’t come into work.” But they also had these really flippant attitudes of, “Everyone is overreacting, it’s not a big deal. We’re going to lose business because nobody is going out.”

For the first week that we had American cases, there wasn’t much change [in customer behavior], but we rapidly saw a decrease in foot traffic. Now I’m being scheduled way, way less. In February, I was working close to 30 hours at both jobs, and now I barely work 20 between both. Most of the time when I go into work, they send me [home] early because there’s not enough business.

Now that I’m working fewer hours and I’m not getting as much money, I might have to take out a student loan just to finish the semester. When I decided to go back to school, I didn’t take out any big student loans. I was like, “If I can’t pay it off on a credit card within six months, then I just won’t go.” But I’m one of the luckier victims, because I don’t have kids like most of my coworkers do.

*Name has been changed for privacy reasons.

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We’re looking to hear from people who work in the service industry in the US about their experiences related to the coronavirus. Share your story in the form below, and we might use it in an upcoming video, article, or podcast episode. (You can also access the Google form here.)

Amid mounting concerns over the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus, food service workers across the country are urging their employers to offer paid sick leave with mixed results. Some national restaurant chains have implemented sick leave policies or strengthened existing ones, either proactively or under pressure from their employees. But even with such policies in place, workers say they still face hurdles to actually taking time off, including retaliation from their bosses. Some workers say that even with paid-time-off policies in place, they may not be able to access medical care. This is a problem when their employers expect them to provide doctor’s notes — even without insurance. Many won’t qualify for Covid-19 testing, thanks to the strict rules around who is being tested.

Nationally, just 25 percent of food service workers receive paid sick days, according to federal data. Judy Conti, the government affairs director of the National Employment Law Project, warned that industry-wide changes are needed to prevent the ongoing spread of Covid-19.

Early Saturday morning, the House passed an emergency coronavirus relief bill that guarantees sick leave to some workers. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who negotiated the details with the White House, touted the rare bipartisan compromise meant to benefit all Americans. But the bill has some glaring exceptions. The paid-leave provisions apply only to employers with 500 or fewer employees. That means workers at McDonald’s, Subway, Chick-fil-A, and other national chains wouldn’t be covered by the bill at all — and according to data compiled by the New York Times editorial board, those same companies are among those that don’t provide paid leave.

Democrats previously pushed for a more expansive bill establishing a permanent paid-leave program that would apply to all public health emergencies, not just coronavirus, but House Republicans have pushed for these provisions to be limited to the current crisis. Conti said that sick leave shouldn’t just be an emergency measure.

“The way that we treat paid leave and paid sick leave policy in this country is coming into stark relief right now, but this is an ongoing crisis,” she said. “We spread the flu more than we need to — we spread everything more than we need to — because people come to work sick or people send their kids to school sick because people can’t afford to stay home and take care of them. I hope that whatever we do in this crisis doesn’t only enact a temporary fix but enacts some meaningful rights for workers in this country to stay home and take care of themselves when they are sick.”

In some cities, food servers have taken to the streets in protest of their employers’ sick leave policies. Chipotle workers in New York City walked off the job last week, calling on the fast-casual chain to comply with the city’s paid-sick-leave law. “Even if you call off, you will receive retaliation in some way,” Kendra Avila, a Chipotle employee in Manhattan, told the Goods. “At my store, it’s confusing on how to even get [sick leave]. To them, if you call out, you’re sabotaging their day and their chance of making money.”

In a statement to the Goods, a Chipotle spokesperson said the store’s policy is to “fully comply with [New York City’s] Sick and Safe Leave Act,” and added that the company is following its existing food-safety protocols — which include “wellness checks; paid sick leave; air treatment systems; Purell sanitizer for employees and guests; [and] personal hygiene requirements like handwashing every hour” to prevent the spread of the virus. “Employees that are not feeling well are required to stay home and we’ll welcome them back when they are symptom free,” the company said in a statement, adding that workers immediately accrue three paid sick days on their first day on the job. Despite these policies, the company settled a wrongful termination lawsuit with New York City just last month after an employee said she was illegally fired for using her sick leave.

Avila said the company’s policies are routinely ignored in its New York City locations. “If you are looking to call out, they’ll try to talk you out of it by saying it’s not a valid reason,” she said, adding that many workers feel the need to provide a doctor’s note if they call out for even one day. “To Chipotle, the only reason you should be calling out sick is because you’re vomiting, you have nausea, you have diarrhea, or if you have a fever. You can’t call out if it’s your child, your loved one, if you have a funeral, anything.”

Chipotle isn’t the only chain whose workers are calling for paid sick leave and other protections in the wake of the World Health Organization’s designation of the novel coronavirus as a pandemic. McDonald’s workers in Tampa, Orlando, and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, went on strike Thursday, according to the group Fight for $15, which advocates for a higher minimum wage. Workers released a list of demands on Tuesday, including paid time off for workers who get sick or whose relatives are ill, quarantine pay for workers, and additional cleaning supplies and protective equipment for stores across the country.

A McDonald’s spokesperson said the company will offer paid time off for workers at corporate-owned restaurants who are asked to quarantine for 14 days but didn’t clarify whether workers who have COVID-19 symptoms and aren’t ordered to quarantine — including those who attempt to get tested for coronavirus and are turned away or those who can’t afford to seek medical care in the first place — also qualify.

More than 27.9 million Americans were uninsured in 2018, according to data from the Kaiser Family Foundation, and most uninsured people are members of low-income families where at least one person works. Terrence Wise, a McDonald’s worker in Missouri who is organizing with Fight for $15, said many of his coworkers are uninsured. “Frontline McDonald’s workers are paid low wages and don’t get employer health care, so if we felt sick and wanted to go to the doctor to get tested, we would run into obstacles doing that,” he said. (Local and federal lawmakers are currently working to make testing affordable for all, but no federal policy ensuring access to testing has been enacted yet. Even if such a policy does go into effect, there are several anecdotal reports of people with symptoms being denied testing.)

The McDonald’s spokesperson told the Goods that all employees are expected to stay home when they are sick — but for those who can’t afford medical care, that could mean losing out on necessary wages.

“It’s all well and good to say you can take all the sick time you need, but if you are not going to be paying, you are realistically not going to give people sick leave,” said Conti “We have heard from workers that missing $60 or $70 a day in wages is the difference between being able to feed their family a month.” Conti added that McDonald’s coronavirus policy won’t apply to most workers. “Corporate-owned McDonald’s operations are somewhere between 5 and 10 percent of McDonald’s on a worldwide basis,” she said.

Conti described the company’s offer to give paid time off to workers who are ordered to quarantine is “purposely vague.”

“They don’t say who has to order the quarantine — if it’s a self-quarantine — or any details at all. It’s something that sounds good on the surface, but when you probe for the details, there’s an awful lot missing,” she said.

Other chains have implemented more expansive policies in response to the outbreak. Starbucks is giving up to 14 days of “catastrophe pay” for all workers who have been exposed to the virus regardless of whether they show symptoms, according to a letter sent to employees on March 11. “If you have not had any known contact with someone diagnosed with COVID-19, but are showing symptoms, you should stay home until you are symptom-free for 24 hours,” the letter reads.

A former Starbucks employee, who worked as a shift supervisor until last week, said management didn’t always adhere to the company’s sick-leave policies. “In practice, through the several stores I worked at, I encountered a prevailing culture [that] discouraged taking sick time,” he said. “During my last few months, before coronavirus hit, there were numerous instances where employees would come into work visibly sick, afraid of calling out because they believed management and other staff wouldn’t support them.”

The company’s policies don’t cover all Starbucks workers, either. As CNBC points out, more than 6,300 Starbucks locations across the country are licensed to franchises that may have different policies than corporate-owned stores. The chain has also put more stringent health and safety measures in place, including banning the use of reusable cups.

Darden Restaurants, which owns several restaurant chains including Olive Garden and Longhorn Steakhouse, also announced a new sick leave policy this week. The policy will give workers one hour of sick leave for every 30 hours they’ve worked, and tipped workers’ pay will be based on their 13-week average income, per CNBC. Workers won’t start with zero hours — instead, their starting sick leave balance will be based on their most recent 26 weeks of work. For example, if someone worked 20-hour weeks in that 26-week period, they’d have just over 16 hours of sick leave effective immediately.

Even as national restaurant chains implement new sick leave policies or expand existing ones, workers at local restaurants are worried they won’t receive similar protections. A worker at a local restaurant in Brooklyn, who requested anonymity to prevent retaliation, told the Goods he’s worried about their safety and that of their coworkers — and about the possibility of losing out on wages altogether.

“[Our employers] have offered zero guidance for working in a way that will hopefully prevent the spread [and] be more clean at work,” he said. “It’s a neighborhood spot that tends to be very busy, but it’s looking like this week is extremely slow. Bosses are already starting to cut shifts and told us to ‘start saving.’”

Help Vox’s reporting

We’re looking to hear from people who work in the service industry in the US about their experiences around coronavirus and paid sick leave. Share your story in the form below, and we might use it in an upcoming video, article, or podcast episode. (You can also access the Google form here.)