By Deena Shanker and Jen Skerritt

Tyson Foods Inc., the biggest U.S. meat processor, will return to its pre-COVID-19 absentee policy, which includes punishing workers for missing work due to illness, the company confirmed in a statement to Bloomberg.

“We’re reinstating our standard attendance policy,” Tyson spokesperson Gary Mickelson said in an email. “But our position on COVID-19 has not changed: Workers who have symptoms of the virus or have tested positive will continue to be asked to stay home and will not be penalized. They will also continue to qualify for short-term disability pay so they can continue to be paid while they’re sick.”

In mid-March, Tyson said that it was “relaxing attendance policies in our plants by eliminating any punitive effect for missing work due to illness.” That will no longer be the case, as the company shifts back to its usual policy that discourages absenteeism through a point system.

Some of America’s largest meat suppliers reopened plants recently after a wave of coronavirus outbreaks forced temporarily closures in April, withering available supplies at grocery stores and driving up retail prices for beef and pork. While companies have taken measures such as increasing hand-washing stations, distributing face shields and doing temperature checks, experts and unions warn that workers are still being put in harm’s way in the name of food security as packers seek to boost output.

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Physical distancing is nearly impossible in plants that operate processing lines at very fast speeds. There have been at least 44 meatpacking worker deaths and over 3,000 workers testing positive for COVID-19, according to estimates from United Food & Commercial Workers International Union.

On Tuesday, Tyson confirmed 591 positive COVID-19 cases out of 2,303 tested employees at its Storm Lake, Iowa, plant, which was shuttered last week. Limited production at the facility will resume on June 3, the company said, while separately confirming 224 positive cases out of its 1,483 employees at its Council Bluffs, Iowa plant.

Mickelson also noted the steps the company has taken to slow the spread of the virus at its plants. These measures include pre-shift temperature checks, providing masks to workers, and creating physical barriers between workstations.

To contact the reporters on this story:

Deena Shanker in New York at [email protected];

Jen Skerritt in Winnipeg at [email protected]

To contact the editors responsible for this story:

David Marino at [email protected]

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