Thousands of North Texas essential workers fear like never before the possibilities of contracting COVID-19 and having to work while sick to support their families.

Whether because taking time off would leave their families with no income or because their bosses want them on the job even while sick, these employees say they have no choice but to continue working.

“There is currently no law that prevents an employer from requiring an employee to come to work if that employee tests positive for COVID-19,” said Jamila Brinson, a labor and employment attorney at Jackson Walker LLP in Dallas.

Custodian Joe Gomez mops a classroom floor at Rayburn Elementary STEAM Academy in Grand Prairie.(Elias Valverde II / Staff Photographer)

“There also isn’t a law that requires employers to pay employees for days off if they test positive for COVID-19, whether or not the employee works hourly,” Brinson said.

Those realities leave many essential employees in a dilemma as they weigh the health risks associated with COVID-19 versus the financial toll that comes with not working.

Joe Gómez has been a janitor at Rayburn Elementary STEAM Academy in Grand Prairie ISD for more than 10 years. Gómez, who lives with his elderly parents, spends much of his work days disinfecting classrooms and other areas of the school.

While Gómez said the possibility of getting COVID-19 on the job worries him, the risk of infecting his parents is a greater concern. However, he said, he has no other choice but to work.

“I still have to work and support my family. You know, pay bills and all that. But the good thing is that I am vaccinated, and so are my parents,” Gómez said.

“It is what it is. We live paycheck to paycheck, and I hope I don’t get infected or infect my parents,” he said. “I wear a mask and try to stay 6 feet away from people to avoid getting sick.”

Antonio Ortiz, 32, manager of Greenville Avenue Pizza Company, is another essential worker who worries about bringing COVID-19 back home. Ortiz lives with his mother, who has diabetes and high blood pressure, but he said that if he didn’t work, the stress his household would become even worse as bills mount.

“If I get COVID, I not only think about the possibility that this disease can kill me, but also the stress of not coming to work and what could happen if I don’t have enough money to pay rent, bills, all those things,” Ortiz said. “The only option is to work every day and do the simple things that protect us, like wearing a mask all day.”

‘They stopped taking care of us’

María Rafaela Ríos has worked in an Oak Cliff supermarket for five years. Because her husband and daughter have diabetes, Ríos said, she knew from the start of the pandemic that she’d have to follow all safety protocols to avoid getting COVID-19 and putting her family in danger.

Ríos said that although she feared going to work, where she packaged raw meat, she felt that as the main provider for her family she couldn’t stop working.

“I remember that we were heroes during the first months of the pandemic. People even sent us food to thank us because we never closed the store and continued working,” Ríos said. “Later, it was like everyone forgot, and even at work, they stopped taking care of us.”

Every day, before entering her home from work, Ríos would change her clothes and wash off in her backyard. Once inside, she put her work clothes into the washing machine and made sure she’d removed everything that could be contaminated before greeting her family.

“My husband and my daughter are in a lot of danger, but I was the one who had to work because I didn’t want my husband to get sick,” Ríos said.

Despite all of the precautions she’d been taking, Ríos contracted COVID-19 about two weeks ago. She isolated in a room at home while recovering. She expressed ambivalence about returning to work.

“I feel like they relaxed a lot in terms of protection and now they let us work very close together,” Ríos said. “Sometimes, we don’t even have soap to wash our hands.”

Safety: workers vs. customers

Another stressor for some essential employees is the lack of a requirement for customers to wear masks. Jorge Galindo, 33, who has been a cook in a fast-food restaurant on Greenville Avenue for over five years, is familiar with that situation.

“There are people who have no consideration for us. It’s not just the risk of us getting infected, but bringing the infection home and having to stay out of work for a few days,” Galindo said. “Customers get angry when you don’t serve them quickly, but they don’t understand that it’s because we’re operating short-staffed.”

Joe Gomez wipes down a hand sanitizer dispenser at Rayburn Elementary STEAM Academy in Grand Prairie.(Elias Valverde II / Staff Photographer)

Galindo said it’s difficult asking customers to wear masks in the absence of any requirement. The best he can do, he said, is to protect himself by wearing his own covering.

“It’s very stressful. You wear your mask to be safe and not infect customers, but they don’t care, and we can’t do anything but to be at constant risk,” Galindo said. “I put on my mask, my gloves, and I wash my hands constantly. When I get home, I quickly take off my clothes and take a shower before being in contact with anyone in my family.”

Pressure on business owners

Small-business owners have found themselves in the difficult situation of trying to protect their employees while not losing profits, said 37-year-old Gladis Herrera, owner of Lower Greenville Barber Shop.

“Two years into the pandemic, it has been difficult to maintain a business. With the omicron variant and all these infections, we started the year with many losses. We had a full schedule for the first two weeks of January, but they suddenly started calling to cancel or reschedule,” Herrera said.

Herrera said that while none of her four employees have tested positive, they know they’re always at risk, especially when customers remove their masks for beard or mustache trims.

“We put ourselves in front of people’s faces, and we obviously breathe, and so do they. Every day we’re at risk and, at the same time, we have to continue paying the business’ bills.”

The omicron variant has necessitated stepped-up safety disinfecting measures for the business, even as the cost of cleaning supplies has risen, Herrera said.

“We bought a machine to sanitize our space, more gloves so that our employees can use two pairs at a time, washing capes three times, and all those things add up,” Herrera said. “Having to close the shop to disinfect when a customer calls us to inform us they tested positive is also a loss, but it is what we have to do to stay in business.”

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Originally Appeared Here