Customers browsing in JB Hi-Fi's narrow aisles are constantly picking up and touching DVDs and electronics.
Hall has worked in the music and movies section of JB Hi-Fi’s World Square store in Sydney since late 2017, recently switching from full-time to casual so he could start studying.
“There was talk of a shutdown of all non-essential businesses and you could see the numbers [of coronavirus cases] starting to rise,” he told BuzzFeed News. “Then the day came and there was an announcement: all workers are essential. How are we still essential?”Instead, it has restricted customer numbers in store, distributed more cleaning products, banned cash, and told staff who feel unsafe to use annual leave or unpaid leave.
Shoebridge has heard of managers asking to hug staff members as recently as mid-April, he wrote in his letter to SafeWork NSW. Shoebridge also complained to SafeWork NSW that workers had been provided with Ajax and Windex to “disinfect” surfaces, both of which are ineffective at stopping COVID-19 transmission.
Photos provided to Shoebridge's office of hand sanitiser and cleaning products at JB Hi-Fi workplaces last week. Neither Hall nor Millward have worked a shift in recent days. Millward’s health history means he is at high risk, so he is using his annual leave to isolate. Hall’s World Square store has shut down, and though he says he was told he could redeploy to his local JB Hi-Fi, he has not been given a shift since April 4.
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