5 On Your Side: Employment attorney shares top concerns

Going back to work safely is a concern for an increasing number of people as more local businesses reopen.

Posted 6:54 p.m. May 28, 2020 — Updated 9:26 p.m. May 28, 2020

Monica Laliberte

, Executive producer/consumer reporter

RALEIGH, N.C. — Going back to work safely is a concern for an increasing number of people as more local businesses reopen.

Attorney Laura Noble, who specializes in employment law, spoke with 5 On Your Side to answer questions posed by viewers.

"We’ve been very busy," said Noble. "Lots of calls, lots of nervous people."

She says they’re hearing two issues above all.

"That their employers are not taking the safety precautions they should be taking and that they’re nervous that they’re going to get the disease themselves or bring it home to their families," Noble added.

She says concerns about COVID-19 safety are tough.

"You would have to be in a situation … where there’s close proximity to coworkers, where there’s no disinfection going on, where there’s no mask wearing, and it’s something very egregious to survive on a claim that it’s an unsafe working condition such that you should not have to go back to work."

Noble says while some employees have protections under the Americans with Disabilities act, "fear of returning to work, in and of itself, it’s not a disability."

And therefore, she says, not protected.

"If the employment is available and you choose not to go, simply out of fear, you’re probably not going to have any benefits available to you, and you’re probably not even going to have a job," Noble said. "An employer would be entitled to terminate you if you refuse to come to work out of fear."

That means you would no longer be able to collect unemployment benefit, and for parents with childcare concerns, that is an area that needs to be addressed.

"If there is childcare available, it’s just expensive or limited or difficult to get to, you’re not going to have any benefits available to you in those circumstances," she added.

Bottom line, even as businesses reopen, for many, the struggles will continue.

If you have a specific COVID-19 legal question, call 919-891-9779 Friday, May 29 between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m to speak with an attorney for free.

Attorneys with the North Carolina Bar Foundation will be volunteering their time to help you with a variety of civil law concerns.

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