Structural Discrimination In COVID-19 Workplace Protections

Workers, who are being asked to risk their health by working outside their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, need adequate hazard compensation, safe workplace conditions, and personal protective equipment (PPE). Sadly, this is not happening for many essential workers, such as those working in home health care and in the meat processing industry. These workers are not only being unnecessarily exposed to the virus, but they are also not receiving paid sick leave, unemployment benefits, and affordable health care and childcare. The lack of these protections is due to structural discrimination and has disproportionately disadvantaged women of color and low-wage workers. This leaves them and their families more vulnerable to COVID-19 infection and death. In this context, structural discrimination refers to the ways in which laws are used to advantage those in power, while disadvantaging powerless workers. In the COVID-19 pandemic, the lack of legal protections for many workers is a reflection of structural discrimination.

Keywords: Discrimination, COVID-19, home health care workers, farm workers, law

JEL Classification: i14, I18, I31, K30, K31, K32, K39, K42

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Yearby, Ruqaiijah and Mohapatra, Seema, Structural Discrimination In COVID-19 Workplace Protections (May 29, 2020). Health Affairs Blog (2020), Saint Louis U. Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2020-09, Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law Research Paper No. 2020-9, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3614092 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3614092