John Furner, President & CEO of Walmart U.S. and Kath McLay, President & CEO of Sam’s Club, jointly announced that they have decided to start having the temperatures of their associates taken as they report to work in stores, clubs and facilities. The associates will also be asked some basic health screening questions.
“We are in the process of sending infrared thermometers to all locations, which could take up to three weeks,” the CEOS said in a joint statement posted on Walmart’s corporate website. “Any associate with a temperature of 100.0 degrees will be paid for reporting to work and asked to return home and seek medical treatment if necessary. The associate will not be able to return to work until they are fever-free for at least three days.”
They added, “Many associates have already been taking their own temperatures at home, and we’re asking them to continue that practice as we start doing it on-site. And we’ll continue to ask associates to look out for other symptoms of the virus (coughing, feeling achy, difficulty breathing) and never come to work when they don’t feel well.”
Furner and McLay said their COVID-19 emergency leave policy allows associates to stay home if they have any COVID-19 related symptoms, concerns, illness or are quarantined, with the knowledge that their jobs will be protected.
Furner and McLay also said that even though the CDC and other health officials do not recommend masks or gloves for healthy people who don’t ordinarily use them for their jobs, “we will make them available — as supplies permit — for associates who want to wear them.”
They said the high-quality masks will arrive in one to two weeks, but will not be N95 respirators, which they said should be reserved for at-risk healthcare workers.
“We encourage anyone who would like to wear a mask or gloves at work to ask their supervisor for them, while keeping in mind that it is still possible to spread germs while wearing them,” Furner and McLay said.
Furner and McLay also said they are sharing a new framework with associates regarding healthy behaviors at work this, asking them to remember three numbers: 6, 20 and 100.
- Six (6) feet is the amount of space people should keep from others, when possible, to maintain social distancing.
- Twenty (20) seconds is the amount of time people should take to wash their hands with soap and water.
- One-hundred (100) is the temperature that someone should stay home with.
“We will continue to consult with health officials and experts inside and outside Walmart as this situation evolves,” Furner and McLay said. “We greatly appreciate the work our associates are doing for customers, members, and their communities, and we will continue to prioritize their health and well-being.”
Furner and McLay said these are just additional steps they are taking to promote a safe and healthy workplace.
Their facilities are already closing overnight for cleaning, starting to install sneeze guards at checkout and pharmacies, using wipes and sprayers for carts, putting in signing for social distancing and have implemented a COVID-19 emergency leave policy.