After months of build-up, the U.S. government and businesses began reckoning with the massive impact of coronavirus in earnest this week. With top medical officials encouraging “social distancing” to slow the spread of the virus, the current flaws in our country’s workplace policies – such as universal access to paid sick leave and good healthcare – are proving to be major barriers to effectively containing the pandemic. 

To deliver on a promise of an economy that works for all Americans, companies, at a minimum, should provide paid sick leave to all employees, effective immediately, and take steps to provide similar benefits and financial support to temporary and contract workers too. You can read more on our take about what business leaders should be doing here. 

Luckily, several companies are stepping up to do what they can to flatten the curve, from enabling employees to work from home to implementing paid sick leave for the first time. 

Over the coming weeks, we’ll be tracking the corporate response to the coronavirus, highlighting examples of just business behavior as corporate America grapples with how to support their stakeholders – in particular their workers, customers, and communities in which they operate.