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. 2023 Feb 7;20(4):2894.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph20042894.

COVID-19 Workplace Mitigation Strategies and Employee Leave Policies Implemented during the Height of the Pandemic, United States, Fall 2020 and 2021

Rebecca J Guerin  1 , John P Barile  2 , Matthew R Groenewold  3 , Hannah L Free  3 , Andrea H Okun  1
Affiliations

COVID-19 Workplace Mitigation Strategies and Employee Leave Policies Implemented during the Height of the Pandemic, United States, Fall 2020 and 2021

Rebecca J Guerin et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

COVID-19 workplace mitigation strategies implemented within US businesses have been effective at preventing disease and protecting workers, but the extent of their use is not well understood. We examined reported COVID-19 workplace mitigation strategies by business size, geographic region, and industry using internet panel survey data from US adult respondents working full- or part-time outside the home (fall 2020, N = 1168) andfull- or part-time, inside or outside the home (fall 2021, N = 1778). We used chi-square tests to assess the differences in the strategies used (e.g., masking and COVID-19 screening) and ANOVA tests to examine the group differences on a mitigation strategies summative score. Fewer COVID-19 mitigation strategies were reported by respondents in fall 2021 (compared to fall 2020) across businesses of different sizes and regions. The participants in microbusinesses (1-10 employees) reported significantly (p < 0.05) lower mitigation scores than all other business sizes, and the respondents in these businesses were significantly less likely (p < 0.05) to have paid leave than those in enterprises with >10 employees. The healthcare and education sectors had the highest reported mean score of COVID-19 workplace mitigation strategies. Small and essential businesses are critical to the US economy. Insight is needed on their use of mitigation strategies to protect workers during the current and future pandemics.

Keywords: COVID-19; essential industries; occupational safety and health; prevention strategies; small business; small enterprise; workplace mitigation strategies; workplace safety and health.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Respondent reported COVID-19 workplace mitigation strategies, fall 2020 and fall 2021. * Only asked in fall 2020; ** only asked in fall 2021.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Respondent reported COVID-19 mitigation scores by business size (number of employees) and US region, fall 2020 and fall 2021.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Respondent reported COVID-19 workplace mitigation scores (estimated marginal means, rounded to the nearest tenth) by industry, fall 2020 and fall 2021.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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