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“These organizations are very labour intensive … (and) tend to be a little bit lower on the wage rates with more part time workers,” said Chhinzer.

Violet Gibson, who works as a server at a premium casual restaurant in Toronto, said she doesn’t feel comfortable taking sick leave and has gone to work with “terrible colds that have lasted two weeks”, relying on medication to “breathe and move with aches and pains and congestions.”

“I really depend on my tips,” she said. “And if I’m not working, I don’t get my tips.”

Photo by Carlos Osorio / Reuters

She said that, despite the outbreak, she would still go into work if she had a cough or cold. “I can’t afford not to,” she explained.

Chhinzer calls this a “subculture of presenteeism”, especially for lower-income workers.

“The financial cost of staying home is too large,” she said. Given the ‘client-centric’ nature of their work, Chhinzer said there is no better alternative to quarantine for hospitality workers who fall sick with coronavirus.

Employers however, could mitigate the financial impact by lobbying for more governmental support or by banking extra hours with workers in return for an upfront payment.

“Rather than filling vacancies, we could share those hours with some of our employees,” she said. “It’s a better way to plan for the financial impact and to encourage people to take time off when they’re sick, so that we do in fact, contain the epidemic.”

GIG ECONOMY

A 2016 Statistics Canada study found that 8.2 per cent of the Canadian labour force aged 15 years and older did some form of gig work. Those in the bottom 40 per cent of the income ladder were twice as likely to be involved in gig work, the report said.

Gig work varies drastically in hours and type and can include office work, maintenance, delivery services or ride-share. Its freelance nature often means that workers have low wage-bargaining power and a lack of benefits and employer support.

Elizabeth Ko, who lives in Toronto, works two jobs — a freelance web designer and as a part-time worker at a downtown retail store. While she hasn’t included a sick leave policy in her freelance contract with clients, the nature of her work allows her to work from home and avoid public spaces, except for meetings with clients.