Scott Patrick is among the many who disagreed with Mayor Muriel Bowser’s decision to rescind the indoor mask mandate ahead of the holidays. But when the mayor reinstated the mandate just before Christmas, Patrick says his manager at Trader Joe’s instructed him and his colleagues not to enforce the requirement if they see customers maskless. Meanwhile, Trader Joe’s employees are still required to wear a mask.

“They just told us that it was for our own protection to not say or do anything under the logic that the customer might become unruly and confrontational,” says Patrick, who works at the Union Market location. “But of course that doesn’t make sense because it’s for our own protection that they institute the mask mandate to prevent the transmission of COVID.”

“It just feels like across the board, all these institutions are failing to do their jobs,” he adds.

There are fewer health and safety protocols at Trader Joe’s now than at any point in the pandemic, according to multiple grocery store workers at the Union Market location — despite unprecedented COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. (Two of the four workers who agreed to speak with DCist/WAMU asked not to be named because they feared retribution at work or had privacy concerns.) Vaccination reduces their risk of getting seriously ill from COVID-19, but workers still hope to avoid exposure or infection, partly because quarantine could mean losing wages.

It is unclear if Trader Joe’s mask policy is set by the company’s headquarters, although that’s the impression some workers have. The store manager for the Union Market location declined to comment, referring all questions to a national spokesperson. Trader Joe’s spokesperson Kenya Friend-Daniel did not respond to repeated emails or phone calls.

Multiple employees expressed concern over not having enough paid leave if they were to test positive for COVID-19. Trader Joe’s offers three days, according to employees, even though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends at least a 5-day quarantine. D.C. law requires large employers like Trader Joe’s to offer seven days of paid sick leave, according to the Office of At-Large Councilmember Elissa Silverman, who chairs the labor committee. It’s unclear whether Trader Joe’s paid leave for COVID-19 supplements or supplants what’s required under law.

Multiple workers say it’s not just about pay –  that Trader Joe’s at Union Market is understaffed. A handful of employees have already tested positive over the last month. So the more employees that are out, the more grueling someone’s shift becomes. Empty shelves, for example, become harder to re-stock.

The Trader Joe’s website offers no information on COVID-19 protocols. According to USA Today, the chain stopped requiring fully-vaccinated customers to wear masks in mid-May, around the time when the CDC changed its mask guidance based on vaccination status. Trader Joe’s appears to have not adjusted its policy once the CDC issued new guidance, advising fully vaccinated people to wear masks in public indoor places if the community sees substantial or high transmission. The District is currently experiencing high transmission, and has one of the highest daily case rates in the country.

A manager for Trader Joe’s in the West End tells DCist/WAMU that their store also does not enforce a mask mandate for customers. A store manager, who asked not to be named because they are not allowed to speak to press, says most customers wear face coverings, but he still wishes at least a sign would be displayed encouraging people to mask up.

A manager for the Capitol Hill Trader Joe’s says they opted to take another approach: Offer a mask to anyone who walks into the grocery store without one. The store keeps spare masks in the office, says the manager, who asked not to be named because they are also not authorized to speak to press.

The vaccine and masks are the only real protection against COVID-19 available to Trader Joe’s employees, seeing as social distancing is impossible without capacity limits at grocery stores. Workers think the least Trader Joe’s at Union Market could do is display a sign reminding customers of D.C.’s mask mandate. While most people wear masks, Scott Patrick says he still sees several people enter the store without any face covering, every 8-hour shift he works. He wishes he could just tell them to mask up.

“Once we started moving away from sort of fighting the virus to surrendering or living with the virus,” says Patrick, “there’s been a lot of grievances, a lot of resentment, within my store … about how the company is not handling the pandemic anymore.”

Not all Trader Joe’s employees want to be responsible for enforcing the mask mandate. Angelica Goodsun, who has worked as a ‘crew member’ for the Union Market location since August, wants Trader Joe’s management to intervene when they see a customer without a face covering. Customers sometimes visit the store sick, she says, so the least management could do is make sure everyone is masked.

“I don’t feel that it should be on your minimum wage workers to enforce,” Goodsun says.

Other chains have managed to strike a balance. It’s management and security at Giant grocery stores that enforce the mask mandate, according to Mike Wilson of Local 400, the union representing workers there. He says management and the union reached an agreement after Giant grocery store workers were verbally and physically attacked for asking customers to mask up early in the pandemic. Giant also provides 14 days of paid leave for COVID-19 infection or quarantine.

Businesses face consequences if they do no enforce Bowser’s mandate, which returned Dec. 21. Her mayoral order says that “any individual or entity that knowingly violates” that mask mandate may be subjected to penalties including a $1,000 fine or a suspension or revocation of licenses.  The Alcohol Beverage Regulation Administration handles enforcement. The government agency requires alcohol-licensed establishments to require all staff and patrons to wear masks upon entry, as well as post visible signage informing people of the requirement.

ABRA investigators identified roughly 80 establishments — many of which are bars or restaurants — that violated the mask mandate between August and November of last year, according to a roster shared with DCist/WAMU. The vast majority of these places were only issued verbal or written warnings after patrons and/or staff were seen not wearing masks. Only Mirror Lounge, Déjà Vu Lounge/The District Sports Bar, and Rito Loco were cited with a $1,000 fine.

Unsure of how to proceed with Trader Joe’s alleged violation of the mask mandate, Scott Patrick emailed the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, as well as every member of the Council and the Executive Office of the Mayor. “Burnt out, overworked, and underpaid workers deserve better than being needlessly exposed to irresponsible and reckless individuals who choose not to mask or vaccinate. Please, please use the power entrusted to you to provide them with some protection and relief,” he wrote in one of his emails.