If you enjoy a turkey during the holiday season, chances are hundreds of people worked long, hard hours to get it to your table. It can be easy to forget about the hard work and labor that goes into preparing our food before we even purchase it. And with the amount of food that gets consumed over the holidays, there’s a spike in the amount of work that goes into preparing that food.
Take, for instance, turkeys. The employees of Butterball, one of the biggest producers of turkeys, find themselves working 50 days straight leading up to Thanksgiving in order to meet demand. During this time, their work flow moves from 47 turkeys a minute to 51. Work at this speed, with no rest, certainly calls safety into question.
The sad truth is that many major companies take opportunities of higher demand to cut corners in order to increase profits. Unfortunately, when the management makes these kinds of decisions, it’s their subordinates who are put at risk.
Many large companies such as Butterball will employ their own nurses. Employees are encouraged to visit these nurses rather than going to the hospital. Often times this is because the nurses will provide temporary solutions to the employees’ problems rather than diagnosing anything major. This means that the company will save money when it comes to workers’ comp.
However, when this happens, it is you, the employee, who loses out. It’s against the law for a company to prevent you from seeking medical treatment or filing a workers’ compensation claim. If your company has been discouraging you from seeking help in regards to a work-related injury, you should contact an attorney. Your health shouldn’t have a price tag.
