Can My Boss Make Me Promise I Don’t Have Covid-19 Symptoms?

Or make us to come back to work in the first place?

View in browser|nytimes.com Continue reading the main story August 1, 2020 THE ETHICIST Illustration by Tomi Um   The Ethicist Can My Boss Make Me Promise I Don’t Have Covid-19 Symptoms? The magazine’s Ethicist columnist on balancing workplace safety against personal privacy, and more. By Kwame Anthony Appiah I relocated to a new state for a job this past December. In March, my workplace closed because of the coronavirus pandemic, and I’ve been working from home since. We’re now preparing to go back to work, and my employers are requiring every person coming to the office to sign a daily affidavit affirming that they don’t have any Covid-19 symptoms. Anyone refusing to sign will be barred from the office and forced to use paid time off or potentially lose a day’s wages. Requiring me to sign this statement feels like an invasion of my privacy — they’ve never required anyone to sign such an affidavit during a flu outbreak. Is it ethical for a business to ask employees to sign something like this? I should also note that my state hasn’t met the benchmarks for reopening set by the White House. Is it ethical for my employer to require us to come back to work in the first place? Read the Ethicist’s reply here. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT THIS WEEK’S MAGAZINE Hannah Price for The New York Times   Feature Pollution Is Killing Black Americans. This Community Fought Back. African-Americans are 75 percent more likely than others to live near facilities that produce hazardous waste. Can a grass-roots environmental-justice movement make a difference? By Linda Villarosa Moises Saman/Magnum, for The New York Times   Feature Inside the Iraqi Kleptocracy Corruption, as much as violence, makes Iraq unlivable. It helped fuel the rise of ISIS. And America provides the cash to sustain it, at least $10 billion a year in hard currency. By Robert F. Worth Illustration by Daniel Barreto   Feature The Mysterious Life of Birds Who Never Come Down Swifts spend all their time in the sky. What can their journeys tell us about the future? By Helen Macdonald MORE FROM THE MAGAZINE Illustration by Ori Toor   Studies Show Why Is There No Consensus About Reopening Schools? Here’s what we know: With too many variables and too few studies, schools lack the tools and data they need to balance education and health. By Kim Tingley Video by HunterGatherer   Issue 8.2.20 Behind the Cover: Environmental Justice A look at how Black communities shoulder a disproportionate burden of the nation’s pollution and how a neighborhood in Philadelphia fought back. Screenland ‘I May Destroy You’ Is Perfect TV for an Anxious World The HBO drama about trauma is possibly the most emblematic show of 2020. By Carina Chocano Heami Lee for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Rebecca Bartoshesky.   Eat Bored With Your Home Cooking? Some Smoky Eggplant Will Fix That These crispy-silky croquettes rise to the restaurant level of cooking we’ve been missing. By Gabrielle Hamilton Mamadi Doumbouya for The New York Times   Talk Ben & Jerry’s Radical Ice Cream Dreams “There wasn’t any other business talking about dismantling white supremacy.” By David Marchese Photo illustration by Ina Jang   Diagnosis His Face, Hands and Feet Swelled Up. What Was Going On? The young boy’s grandmother saw strange red lines snaking around his body. Could this be an allergic reaction? A rare autoimmune disease? By Lisa Sanders, M.D.     Letter Of Recommendation The Strange Lure of Other People’s Photos When I consider all that these people lived through — world wars, the Depression, epidemics with no medicine — I’m given a far longer view. By Bill Shapiro Lewis W. Matthews   Beyond The World War II We Know Returning From War, Returning to Racism After fighting overseas, Black soldiers faced violence and segregation at home. Many, like Lewis W. Matthews, were forced to take menial jobs. Although he managed to push through racism, that wasn’t an option for many. By Alexis Clark Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT Stay in touch: Follow us on Twitter (@NYTmag) or check us out on Instagram. Appreciated this email? Forward it to a friend and help us grow. Loved a story? Hated it? Write us a letter at magazine@nytimes.com. Did a friend forward this to you? Sign up here to get the magazine newsletter. Listen to narrated versions of our articles every week. Download Audm for iPhone or Android. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT Continue reading the main story Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for The New York Times Magazine from The New York Times. To stop receiving these emails, unsubscribe or manage your email preferences. Subscribe to The TimesGet The New York Times app Connect with us on: Change Your EmailPrivacy PolicyContact UsCalifornia Notices The New York Times Company. 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018