Major companies are making big changes to their sick leave policies amid coronavirus spread

Walmart.
(Image credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The spread of the novel coronavirus has prompted several major U.S. companies to re-think their sick policies.

Walmart, which had an employee in Kentucky test positive for the virus, will not penalize hourly workers who call in sick, and any employees who are diagnosed with COVID-19 or are placed in quarantine will receive two weeks of pay that won't come out of their normal paid leave. Uber is also providing two weeks worth of pay to any drivers or delivery workers who have tested positive or are isolated, while Lyft said it would compensate its drivers, as well, though the company did not elaborate.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.