CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Grocery store employees are among the heroes of this pandemic, but a WCNC Defenders investigation found some grocery stores need to do a better job enforcing one of their new health and safety rules.
Several major chains started requiring workers to wear face coverings last month, but our spot check of three Charlotte-area grocery stores found some employees failing to properly wear their masks.
In those rare cases, WCNC has decided to blur employees' faces, since who is failing to comply matters less than what they're failing to do.
Publix
At the Publix in Matthews, a masked greeter sanitized our cart before we walked into the store, but it didn't take long for us to see a worker walking around the store, perhaps on break, with her mask below her chin.
We also witnessed another employee between the bakery and produce section with her mask below her chin as she talked with a co-worker at a distance and later talked behind the deli counter with another co-worker in close contact.
The woman slicing our cold cuts kept her mouth and nose well covered, but to her left, the worker handling the rotisserie chicken only covered her mouth, not her nose. The same was true for a worker sweeping behind the bakery, an employee stocking shelves, a worker from the butcher area, and briefly, the woman bagging our groceries.
"We appreciate your sharing your observations in our store, and also recognize that it could be one snippet in time, and not the normal occurrence," Publix Director of Communications Maria Brous said.
She said Publix has instructed associates to cover their mouth and nose with face coverings, clean their hands with soap and water and/or hand sanitizer before putting on face coverings, properly care for and dispose of their coverings, use them in combination with frequent hand-cleaning and prevent them from impeding their ability to communicate or provide premier service.
"Our management teams also work diligently to ensure our associates are wearing their facial coverings in the appropriate manner," Brous said.
Harris Teeter
Harris Teeter also now requires associates to wear masks or other face coverings at work.
However, at the Harris Teeter in Belmont, we immediately noticed an employee without a mask upon entering the store and then spotted a worker who temporarily took off his mask as he talked with two others, one of the people standing by his side.
At the checkout line, the clerk's mask failed to cover her nose and on the way out, we filmed a cart collector wearing his mask under his chin.
"We'll get this addressed," Harris Teeter Communications Manager Danna Robinson said. "In regard to communicating with our associates, our store management teams host daily huddles; we have signage displayed in associate-only areas, and we are consistently in-touch with our associates about the importance of their personal responsibility in helping to flatten the curve."
While a face-covering can't fully eliminate exposure, when you wear it as recommended, health experts believe your risk is reduced.
Walmart
Our spot check found that message seems to have reached most grocery store workers, including all of the employees we saw at a Walmart on the west side of Charlotte.
While plenty of shoppers went maskless during our visit, we didn't see any Walmart employees doing the same.
Just last month, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 324 President Andrea Zinder said grocery store employees across the country are terrified as they put their own health and safety at risk while providing an essential service.
"They're very proud to be able to serve their community during these very hard times, but they're scared," she said. "They're absolutely scared."
While stores are taking measures to keep employees safe, Mecklenburg County Health Director Gibbie Harris said Monday face coverings may be required, or at least strongly recommended, for customers in the near future too.
"I would suggest for the retail that we are really looking at a possibility of requiring that and recommending it for folks coming in," she said.
Harris said masks are now readily available. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said homemade face coverings fashioned out of cloth are an effective alternative.
MORE ON WCNC CHARLOTTE: