US: 34.3M Cases - 615.2K Dead - 28.4M Recovered
Worldwide: 177M Cases - 3.8M Dead - 161.2M Recovered

Former Senior Loss Prevention Executive
Know of any fallen LP exec? Let's remember & recognize.

Private Industry Security Guard Deaths: 279  
Law Enforcement Officer Deaths: 308
*Red indicates change in total deaths


 

Businesses Push Back at California's Vaccine Verification Rules
California COVID restrictions ending, but mask-wearing to remain a reality
Although the vast majority of COVID-19 restrictions will be lifted Tuesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom warned Monday the virus is still active, and mask-wearing will continue to be a reality for non-vaccinated residents, at businesses that require them or for people who simply feel safer wearing them.

Newsom also said he is prepared to issue an executive order later this week to immediately implement work-site mask-wearing regulations, if the state's Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board approves them on Thursday.

Cal-OSHA officials on Friday released the proposed new workplace rules, which largely align with state mask-wearing guidance for the general public. The rules would require businesses to verify workers' vaccination status and make masks available to unvaccinated workers. Vaccinated workers would not be required to wear masks in the workplace under the proposed rules.

Some business owners and associations have pushed back at the idea of employers being required to verify workers' vaccination status.

With the statewide lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, questions have persisted about requirements for mask-wearing. Newsom on Monday warned that the move away from economic restrictions does not mean mask-wearing will go away, nor will the pandemic. 10news.com

The Key Question as Workplaces Return to Normalcy
How will companies manage a staff of vaccinated and unvaccinated workers?

As employers reopen offices, some are asking returning employees for proof they have received their COVID-19 vaccines.

Some private employers have gone so far as to require vaccinations for employees to return to their jobs. The Journal reports that some companies have begun asking workers to voluntarily register their vaccination status, while others are requiring employees to disclose that information. Many are requiring unvaccinated workers to wear masks inside of buildings even as the vaccinated conduct business without the same precautions.

Non-vaccinated workers may not like the feeling of being pushed to get shots, but recent Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) guidance says employers have the legal right to require employees to be vaccinated against the virus. Exceptions to this rule include workers with certain medical conditions or religious beliefs. Those seeking to opt-out of being vaccinated may be able to get an exception to workplace rules by asking “to use masks, social distancing, schedule changes, or reassignment to stay safe at work,” according to the EEOC.

The issue of what to do with returning workers takes place at a time when some states are approaching or passing the 70 percent vaccination goal set by the Biden administration for adults, moving the U.S. towards a level that would create herd immunity. Many localities and states, however, have failed to even reach 50 percent largely due to the related politics, which follow previous splits over the seriousness of the virus itself and public health measures to prevent its spread. retailwire.com

Scrambling to Get Retail Workers Vaccinated
Restaurants offer $50 (and cheap beer!) to workers who get COVID vaccine
For restaurant and retail workers, the Rare Bird in Traverse City was offering a pretty good deal last Monday: come get your COVID vaccine, and not only are you protected from the virus that’s killed some 3.8 million globally, they’ll throw in a $50 Visa gift card, plus $1 draft beers and $3 cocktails.

The Traverse City event is just one of several vaccine clinics Michigan’s restaurant and hospitality employers have been holding the last few weeks, including ones in Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids, and another scheduled for Tuesday at the Radisson Plaza Hotel in Kalamazoo. (In Ann Arbor, Zingerman’s offered the first 100 industry workers a $50 Visa gift card, and a free sandwich.) So far, about 300 workers have come out.

The events come as the industry is finally back to full capacity and desperate to take advantage of pent-up demand. And while staffing shortages are their biggest concern, low vaccination rates among the predominantly younger workers means greater risk of staff outbreaks.

“I think this industry skews younger than pretty much any other industry, and it has been a little bit harder to get those who are younger to get the vaccine,” Winslow said. "So anything we can do to help incentivize that side of the population, that's great for the public. And I think that's safer for them as well." michiganradio.org

America is Returning to Restaurants
Diners seated via Yelp surge above pre-pandemic levels
Over 3.7 million diners were seated via Yelp in May 2021—the highest number ever, surpassing pre-pandemic highs, according to the crowdsourced reviews hub. The number of diners seated via Yelp was up 48% in May 2021 compared with May 2019. Looking at party size, smaller groups of two to three patrons did begin to rebound sooner, but larger parties quickly followed and bounced back even stronger—by more than 50% compared to May 2019 and more than 1,000% compared to March 2020.

There were nearly 16,500 restaurant and food business reopenings in April 2021—the highest since April 2020. And nearly 6,600 new restaurant and food businesses opened in May 2021, a 42% increase from May 2020 and down by only 21% from May 2019. fortune.com

4th Vaccine Emerges
Novavax says its Covid vaccine is 90% effective
Biotech firm Novavax said Monday its Covid-19 vaccine was shown to be safe and 90.4% effective overall in a phase three clinical trial of nearly 30,000 participants across the United States and Mexico.

Additionally, it said the two-dose vaccine was found to be 100% effective in preventing moderate and severe disease and 93% effective against some variants. The company said it plans to file for authorization with the Food and Drug Administration in the third quarter. npr.org

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Ikea Slapped with Fine for its 'System of Espionage'
Ikea fined $1.2 million for spying on workers in France, reviewing their bank-account records

The company's 'spying tactics' begani in the early 2000s

A French court on Tuesday ordered Ikea to pay a 1 million euro ($1.2 million) fine for spying on its French staff, after the world's biggest furniture retailer was found guilty of improperly gathering and storing data on its employees.

The French branch of Ingka Group, which owns most Ikea stores worldwide, was accused of snooping on its workers and some clients over several years.

The flatpack furniture group, which has recognized there were some improper practices, was accused of breaching employees' privacy by reviewing records of their bank accounts and sometimes using fake employees to write up reports on staff.

The allegations centered on the 2009-2012 period, although prosecutors said the spying tactics began in the early 2000s.

Worker representatives said the information was used to target union leaders in some cases, or used to Ikea's advantage in disputes with customers, after the firm trawled data on people's finances and even what cars they drove. It was also found to have paid for access to police files.

Prosecutors had been pushing for a two million euro fine. Lawyers for France's CGT union and several individuals seeking compensation said the final amount was not hefty, but welcomed the outcome.

The company said it was reviewing the court decision to see if further measures were needed, after it took steps to stamp out the surveillance tactics.

"Ikea Retail France has strongly condemned the practices, apologized and implemented a major action plan to prevent this from happening again," the Ingka group said. businessinsider.com nytimes.com

Retailers Urge Biden to Tackle Global Shipping Crisis
NRF Calls on White House to Address Port Congestion Challenges
The National Retail Federation today delivered a letter to the White House asking to meet with President Biden and other top administration officials regarding the challenges retailers are facing from continued supply chain disruptions that are leading to congestion at U.S. ports.

The letter from NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay states, “The supply chain disruption issues, especially the congestion affecting our key maritime ports, are causing significant challenges for America’s retailers. The congestion issues have not only added days and weeks to our supply chains but have led to inventory shortages impacting our ability to serve our customers. In addition, these delays have added significant transportation and warehousing costs for retailers.”

As the nation’s largest private-sector employer, retailers depend on U.S. ports and other transportation infrastructure to deliver billions of dollars’ worth of goods and products to consumers every day. Last week, NRF revised its annual retail sales forecast to grow between 10.5 percent and 13.5 percent to more than $4.44 trillion in 2021 as the economic recovery accelerates.

Although consumer demand continues to grow, evidenced by imports during the busiest April on record at the largest U.S. retail container ports, the supply chain challenges remain significant. In a recent survey of NRF member companies on the congestion situation, over 97 percent of retailers surveyed say they have been impacted by port and shipping delays.

“In many instances retailers will absorb these costs and not pass them along to consumers. However, many smaller retailers may have no choice but to pass along these costs, especially as they face other challenges with reopening their businesses,” Shay said. cnn.com

Stimulus Impact Fades
Retail sales fell 1.3 percent in May, a sign of a bumpy economic recovery
Retail sales fell slightly last month, the Commerce Department reported on Tuesday, as consumers spent less on goods and more on activities like travel, an industry that had been hobbled by the pandemic.

The 1.3 percent decline in May follows months of ups and downs in consumer spending, driven by the persistence of the coronavirus that had kept many people away from airports and restaurants. The data from April was revised to show an increase of 0.9 percent.

But with a growing portion of the country’s population vaccinated and infection rates falling, Americans are venturing out and spending more on lodging and entertainment, rather than on the home improvement projects and grocery hoarding that characterized the earlier, more homebound months of the pandemic.

“Consumer spending growth is shifting from goods to services as the economy reopens,” said Gus Faucher, chief economist at PNC Financial Services Group. nytimes.com

Ranking States by Shopping Centers
27% of U.S. shopping centers are found in California, Texas, and Florida
There are 115,049 shopping centers in the United States and 27% of them can be found in its three most populous states: California, Texas, and Florida.

California has the most with 15,285, followed by Texas’s 12,834 and Florida’s 10,843, according to CoStar data presented in the International Council of Shopping Center’s annual State Statistics report.

The next most populous states, New York and Pennsylvania, are not counted among the next four most-retailed states of Georgia, Illinois, Ohio, and North Carolina. All four of those states contain more than four thousand malls, power centers, strip malls, neighborhood centers, and mixed-use properties.

At the bottom of the list, with fewer than 200 centers each, were Alaska (133), Montana (129), South Dakota (113), Vermont (105), North Dakota (100), District of Columbia (72), and Wyoming (71). chainstoreage.com

Foot Locker will close all of its stores and warehouses on Thanksgiving

Chicken wings prices up 99% because farms can't get enough workers

DoorDash ‘goes to the dogs’ in partnership with PetSmart

Girl Scouts have millions of unsold cookies and COVID is the main culprit