Smithfield pork plant with COVID-19 outbreak gave bonuses for not missing work, CDC says
A pork plant that saw a coronavirus outbreak offered bonuses to employees who didn’t miss work, a report found.
A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was released Wednesday detailing its findings on the Smithfield Foods pork plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where the Associated Press reports nearly 800 workers were infected with COVID-19.
The plant is one of several meat processing plants that have closed or been hit with a coronavirus outbreak, McClatchy News reports.
The first cases among employees at the South Dakota plant were reported on March 24, the CDC report says, and production at the plant came to a halt on April 14. It is closed indefinitely.
The CDC found that during this time a “responsibility bonus” was being offered.
Employees who did not miss work, for example were not sick or late, were offered $500, the report says. The company told the CDC that COVID-19-related absences didn’t count.
One department with a high concentration of cases was given two weeks of paid sick leave.
Additionally, the report identified language barriers in communicating coronavirus information to workers.
About 40 different languages were spoken at the plant, with English, Spanish, Kunama, Swahili, Nepali, Tigrinya, Amharic, French, Oromo, and Vietnamese the most common, the report found.
However, the report also said that employees who were found to have a fever or coronavirus symptoms were sent home with informational packets only in English.
Employees were screened for fevers and symptoms before starting their shifts.
Flyers were posted around the plant encouraging workers to practice social distancing, cover their mouth and nose, wash their hands and report any symptoms.
Some flyers were translated into multiple languages, the report says.
The plant had also recently implemented a new messaging app to keep workers informed in the “language of their choice,” and “key plant employees” translated when needed, the report says.
But it’s unclear how widely the app was used, and management told the CDC that communicating messages presented a challenge with the diverse languages spoken.
Some measures were in place to enforce social distancing at the plant.
Dividers were put on tables in the break room, at least one department reduced its line speed and about 800 plexiglass barriers were installed in areas where social distancing wasn’t possible.
But when the CDC officials visited the plant, they found several workers not practicing social distancing when away from their work stations.
The CDC also found there were hand sanitizing stations set up around the plant and “limited” hand washing stations available in locker rooms in some areas. However, the report says about 30 employees were in a locker room at “any given time.”
The plant has plans to require all employees to wear face masks and to provide face shields for non-administrative employees, the report says. But the CDC officials found employees either not wearing masks or wearing them incorrectly when visiting the plant.
The report also outlines non-mandatory recommendations for the plant going forward, including “control measures” and more education and training.
The company has already informed the CDC of steps it has planned, the report says. They include:
▪ ”Developing and finalizing standard operating procedures for new infection prevention and control measures, especially related to supplementary disinfection of high-touch areas.”
▪ Increasing use of the communication app
▪ Putting in more hand sanitizing dispensers
▪ Installing more time clocks to prevent crowding
▪ ”Promoting increased adoption of mass communication methods to communicate COVID-19 prevention and informational messages to employees”
▪ Having designated staff give hand sanitizer to workers every half hour
▪ ”Relaxing sick leave policies related to COVID-19” and “eliminating premiums, copays, and waiting periods for COVID-19 testing.”
Keira Lombardo, executive vice president of corporate affairs and compliance at Smithfield Foods, said in a statement sent to McClatchy News that the company has received the CDC report.
“We will thoroughly and carefully examine the report point by point and respond in full once our assessment is complete,” the statement said.
This story was originally published April 23, 2020 at 3:29 PM with the headline "Smithfield pork plant with COVID-19 outbreak gave bonuses for not missing work, CDC says."
