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Norfolk participant: “Well, for one thing, they should follow all of the OSHA rules. Uh, anything that has
been put in place for, uh, businesses now, like, mask mandates and social distance and, and not
requiring, uh, employees to work when they know that it's not safe, and also not packing workers in on top
of one another.”
Norfolk participant: “I think they should do what they do at home, you know, wear their masks, keep their
hands and stuff washed, so they can think about others, you know, picking up all this stuff that's going
around. That's what I think they should do, you know, 'cause we should go...every- everywhere we go, we
should wear our masks anyway.”
Norfolk participant: “If you want a healthy workplace, and you're talking about the vaccines and everything
and wearing masks, and so forth, I would think that a good employer would lead by example, that they
would have their vaccines, and they would...you know, when you see them, that they're practicing the
social distancing, and wearing the masks, using the sanitizer, and things like that.”
Theme: Employers need to be concerned about employee health and communicate in transparent,
non-judgmental ways
Participants reported that employees are more concerned with their own health and wellbeing than they have
been in the past, particularly with topics that may have previously been considered taboo (e.g., mental health).
Employers should be proactive about checking in with employees and ensure that it is done in a non-judgmental
manner.
Norfolk participant: “I think an employer should enforce policies that allows employees to be more flexible
in the workplace. If an employee gets sick or isn't able to be physically active, the employer can
recommend they send them home with a paid work leave until they get better, so they can return back to
their workplace. And another thing I suggest would be employees being more transparent with their
employers. Um, I think employees should inform them about their current situations and whether they're
feeling well or, well, anything regarding their wellbeing.”
Chesapeake participant: “Yes. I think a lot of people are uncomfortable being transparent with their
employers, um, for fear of judgment. Some people don't feel comfortable disclosing their, uh, health
information, whether they're vaccinated or unvaccinated for fear of stigma.”
Norfolk participant: “Oh, um, well, a healthy workplace is by respecting others, and keep your hands
clean, and just, um, you know, just mainly just respecting each other, you know? I think so.”
Norfolk participant: “Making sure each other is, you know, all right. Like when they come in, you know, hi,
asking...you know, asking people how they doing, you know? But not just, like, just ask them, like,
genuinely, like, just asking them...you know, like, caring for each other in the workplace.”
Norfolk participant: “I agree with what everyone else has said, but the pandemic, it has changed the way
we work, the way we think. In the news, you're always hearing people are not going back to their jobs.
When the pandemic first hit, COVID, everything was pretty much shut down, and I think during that time,
a lot of people that were in the workforce, they sat back, and they thought about working. The majority of
people, like when they were going to work, they was focusing, you know, focusing on work, you know,
work, work, work, work, work, 'cause I need to pay my bills, I need this, I need that. But then, when
COVID came along, it changed the way you thought and feel about working. It's like, yeah, they wanna
work, and they will work, but it's not their main focus. And I think that their employers should be in...more
in tune to the people, to the employees, because the thing of it is, we are human, and they need to see
that part, that side of us, and before, they really didn't. They saw it too, but they didn't deal with it. So like,
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