Inequity in Pay for Essential Workers Versus Corporate Executives

My partner is a clinician and training administrator for a company that provides home- and clinic-based ABA services for individuals with ASD. Since the stay-at-home orders began taking place, her company has sent numerous emails to its behavior technicians (BTs; many of whom are college students or recent college graduates) reassuring them that, as BTs, they are essential healthcare providers, and should continue going to work in clients’ homes and at the clinic. According to my partner, many BTs and other employees are worried for their health and safety but have not complained for fear of retaliation. In other cases, BTs have quit their jobs rather than be made to jeopardize their health. Meanwhile, the company higher-ups sending the emails are doing so from the comfort and safety of their homes, while making far more money than the “essential healthcare providers” in the field who are risking their health. The BTs have not been offered hazard pay during this time, nor do they receive compulsive health benefits. They must be working 30 hours per week for 6 months before receiving benefits. My partner sees these inequities as a systemic and moral failure of her company and of the larger ABA field, which values maximizing billable hours and profit margins over the health and well-being of their most crucial employees. This photo is of my partner going into work for the first time in weeks, to cover for her coworker who is on maternity leave.