Good Work Austin – Keeping Us Safe
While the City of Austin extends its Stay Home – Work Safe order through June 15, Texas continues its drive to Open Texas. These are dark times in our industry with many local restaurants (Threadgills, Enchiladas y Mas, and North by Northwest) permanently closing their doors due to the economic impact of the pandemic. Restaurants need customers. As local restaurants consider opening their doors in the near future, many are concerned about the health and safety of their workers, customers, and their communities. How can they best prevent the spread of Covid-19 once open? Should they regularly measure staff temperature? How can they develop policies that reassure customers that the restaurant
is a safe place to dine? What should they do if Covid-19 cases continue to rise? Should they deny service to guests who choose not to follow any guidelines they develop?
How can they answer these tough questions? Through cooperation, of course! Good Work Austin began as a group of local businesses advocating for the City of Austin’s paid sick leave ordinance, with Black Star Coop playing a critical activist role. GWA developed a re-opening agreement that provides answers to these critical questions for restaurants, their customers, and the community, which includes the following commitments.
- Reservation sites and websites will include notices that diners cannot enter the restaurant if
they are exhibiting any symptoms of Covid-19. We will deny service to guests who do not follow
our clearly stated guidelines - Employees will be counseled on appropriate behavior at and away from work by a medical
professional to make sure that they are not putting our community at risk. - Staff temperatures must be taken daily. Anyone with a 99.6º or higher temperature will be sent
home. - Staff who have experienced COVID-19 symptoms will be sent home and must fulfill one of the
following options: 1) receive a note from a doctor allowing them to return to work; 2) receive a
negative result from a COVID-19 test; 3) complete a 14 day self-quarantine. - If an employee tests positive for Covid-19, we will thoroughly sanitize our business and require
staff who worked with the infected employee anytime in the last 14 days to be tested or
quarantined for two weeks. - We will include an Employee Wellness Charge to provide our employees with access to health
care and paid sick leave. - All dine-In customers will provide their names. All dine-in customers and employees will
complete a Health Declaration. - All staff must wear masks while in the restaurant. Customers must wear masks except when
they have food or beverage in front of them. - Hand washing will be enforced every 30 minutes for all staff.
- Staff will have no intentional physical contact and will constantly be aware of the necessity of
social distancing. - We will dedicate certain employees to service customers and/or divide spaces and redefine
roles to further separate employees and customers. - Menus will be on display, online, or be sanitized after each use. Single-use menus will be
available by request. - Hand Sanitation stations will be placed at the entrance & exit of the restaurant and outside the
restrooms. - We are committed to ensuring proper ventilation of our indoor spaces by cleaning & changing
filters more frequently and/or increasing fresh airflow. - Adopt all elements of Open Texas Minimum Standard Health Protocols for facility, customers,
and employees.
Over 100 local businesses including coffee shops, restaurants, breweries, and hotels have signed the
agreement. Considering Black Star Coop’s guiding principles of cooperation among cooperatives and
concern for community, the Worker’s Assembly signed this agreement. Collectively following these guidelines as we continue to plan our opening will help Black Star Coop members and non-member customers make informed decisions about the risks related to the pandemic and ensure the health and safety of our hard-working Workers.