Minnesota and Vermont classify grocery clerks as emergency personnel
In these unprecedented times, Minnesota and Vermont have officially designated grocery clerks as emergency personnel. Workers in those states will receive free child care, similarly to paramedics, nurses, and public health workers who are fighting the virus on the front lines, Mother Jones reports. In Minnesota, under the state’s “Care for Children of Families of Emergency Workers” order, grocery store employees are now given mandated child care assistance. Vermont is also developing a plan to reimburse private child care centers for providing care to essential workers, including grocery store employees. Meanwhile, San Francisco limits child care assistance to more traditional first responders, and Ohio announced similar initiatives for those of “essential service,” the definition of which remains unclear.
