Trader Joe’s refusing to allow workers to wear gloves because they don’t ‘look good’

As workers lose their jobs across the country due to the fallout from the growing coronavirus crisis, some essential jobs have proven to be relatively immune, like grocery stores and pharmacies. But those workers, while enjoying relative job security, are putting themselves as risk since their jobs require them to interact with the general public.

As BuzzFeed News points out, these workers are largely hourly employees who are paid minimum wage and aren’t always eligible for paid sick leave -- many are also without health insurance. According to some, they're not being properly protected by their employers. One of those employers is the grocery chain Trader Joe's, who has forbidden employees from wearing gloves unless they have a doctor's note.

"Workers with the employee rights initiative the Coalition for a Trader Joe’s Union have said the company doesn’t want staff wearing gloves because they don’t look good for customers — despite the fact that customers might prefer them in gloves right now," BuzzFeed News reports.

A Coalition spokesperson said that Trader Joe's is operating under the notion that hand washing is more sanitary than wearing gloves, but in reality, "gloves are easier to maintain on register. You can remove them or sanitize them between customers, they remind us not to touch our faces, and they protect any open hand wounds (eczema, paper cuts, box cuts) from exposure.”

Read the full report over at BuzzFeed News.