safety issue? I think so...

I work and live in PA, I work for a hotel. Some months back we discovered we had a bedbug infestation. For the first month the owners did nothing, but try to tell us they were ticks. They very briefly had a professional exterminator come in (they treated only two rooms) then the owners decided to try the treat it yourself approach to this problem. Now more than six months later the infestation is still going strong and they seem unconcerned about the employee "safety".

This morning when I came home from work I found one on my clothing.... I took appropriate action to avoid an infestation at home, clothes imediately into the washer on hot water, hot shower, etc. All the things we have been told to do.

My question is ..... if I as an employee end up with an infestation at home do I have any recourse regarding the extermination bill for my house. They are very difficult to get rid of once you have them and professional extermination will cost hundreds of dollars which I cannot afford.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Its possible my concern is the bed bugs at work, did anyone report this to the health dept?
JoeC

First, Ewwwww !!!, Second, Contact the Health Dept. having jurisdiction immediately. Since you're in PA that would be either the city if your in one of the larger Metropolitan areas or the County where this "roach motel" is located.

We've been told if we tell anyone we will be fired on the spot!!!

We are even told to lie to the guests if they come to us.

I can't afford to loose my job and don't know what to do.

They cant fire you- well they can but that would violate public policy. Anyway you can notify the health Dept anonymously. Now get some guts and stand up for your rights.
JoeC (McGruff)

Would you happen to be in the Philly area?

I would think that if you told the Health Dept. that you have been threatened they would keep the source confidential.

Firing you for reporting a health code violation would be a public policy violation but then you'd need to get an attorney involved.

As Joe said , you're going to have to stand up for yourself or put up with it. It's your choice, and it might not be an easy one.

Not the Philly area.... very small town in central PA.

Well guess it's time to take a chance..... guess I'll be making a few phone calls.

I may be hunting a job in the near future instead of hunting a second job but this needs to stop. These people are dictators, they bought us out a few years ago and since then the job has been a nightmare. It sucks too because I like my job and I'm very good at it.

Well when your making phone calls make one here:
http://www.unitehere.org/contactus/

I asked about the Philly area because I know that the local media has been all over bed bug stories here for the last few months. It's possible a "tip" to the media "Investigators" or whatever they call them in your area could bring a whole lot of attention to this problem. Could be very risky though.

Just food for thought.