Traveling for Christmas?

More than 115 million people traveled for the holidays in 2019. That was up nearly 4% from 2018 but what about this year? Consider this, if you travel for Christmas 2020 you could lose your job.

According to AAA 34 million fewer Americans will be traveling this year. Much of that is due to the pandemic, health concerns and travel restrictions. If you are among the 81 million others that still choose to travel, your boss could cancel your travel plans and perhaps terminate your employment.

I would love to visit my mom in Florida but I won't due to the pandemic. As an example, let's say you have planned a trip to Florida. Airfare, rental car and more are all reserved and you are ready to go. You didn't tell your boss because that is your free time to do what you like correct? Not necessarily. If your employer is concerned that your trip puts his business, your co-workers, customers or others at a greater risk to contracting COVID-19 they could let you go. This is one example and each situation would be handled on a case by case basis.

Each employer has their own policies. New York however is an "at-will" employment state which means you could be let go without due cause. The New York State website states, generally an employer has the right to discharge an employee at any time for any, or no, reason, providing it is not an act of illegal retaliation or discrimination.

If you still decide to travel, here is a portion of the COVID-19 Travel Advisory for New York State.

Traveling more than 24 hours:
Must obtain a test within three days of departure, prior to arrival in New York.
Must, upon arrival in New York, quarantine for three days.
On day 4 of their quarantine, the traveler must obtain another COVID test. If both tests comes back negative, the traveler may exit quarantine early upon receipt of the second negative diagnostic test.

Best advice is to communicate with your employer before you are asked to fasten your seatbelt securely across your lap.