Tiffany Turner, Adrift Hospitality - Washington, Oregon

We’ve learned quickly that to operate hotels and restaurants during this pandemic you need to be well prepared and ready to act quickly in order to reduce public safety risks. Our employees and our guests are our top priority, so we’ve gone to great lengths to take precautions and keep everyone safe. As hard as you try, you can’t prepare for every unknown. When we found out one employee of ours had tested positive, we took immediate action. We closed for sanitation and the employee took leave. 

Having the paid sick days option afforded by the Families First Act meant that our employee could recuperate without losing their pay. For our business, it meant we could replace that employee during their absence without further upsetting our books. A program like this does exactly what it is supposed to do: incentivizes people to make the right decision rather than punish employers and employees for looking out for everyone’s health. We should build from this program to make it stronger and available to all.

Watch Tiffany’s conversation with Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo