Work for rent-to-own company, have brought home bed bugs due to line of work

[Dragonface]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Maine

I work for a popular rent-to-own chain. Rarely I deal with merchandise that has bed bugs. The normal way it works when we pick up merchandise is we check it over for bed bugs prior to picking it up, once more when we get it on the truck, and again before we bring it back into the store, just to be absolutely sure. Recently, about a month ago, I picked up some merchandise and at first it appeared to be clean. Once we got it back to the store, before taking it inside (After I had already handled it a lot), we found indications of bed bugs. We took the merchandise off the truck, threw it out back in the dumpster, and cleaned the trucks and sprayed them down and bombed them overnight. Now, my constant fear has come true. I brought them home with me. I'm not sure how. I'm always incredibly careful. I get home, take off all my clothes, and immediately put them in my clothes drier. At first I don't think I even really noticed, I had some bites, but it's also mosquito season, so I didn't even think anything of it, but this evening, I found one crawling on my bed as I was getting ready to lay down But that's not my point. I wasn't fire or terminated, and I'm not sure what forum this is best posted in, but I'm trying to find out if my workplace would be responsible for the treatment of my home, since the business obviously knows very well that bed bugs are a problem their workers will encounter at some point in their career. I've constantly warned my boss that in cases like this, I feel their should be some protocol, that we should have some system in place when us workers are exposed to bed bugs, but so far nothing has been done, and now I have them in my home. What can I do? I can't afford to get my home treated, and I honestly don't feel as if this should be my responsibility. I've searched on almost all sites I can find through google, yet all I've ever seen are posts about how to prevent bringing them home from other people in your workplace, it doesn't have any information on what to do if you're a worker that's exposed to them because of the nature of your work. Please let me know if you need more details.

 

[adjusterjack]

Instead of sitting at your computer trying to figure out who to point fingers at, what you should be doing (today-right now) is going out and buying the appropriate bed bug chemicals and start treating your own place before this escalates into an infestation that gets you evicted (if you are renting).

Once you have resolved your bed bug problem and they are gone for good, take your receipts to your boss and gently ask for reimbursement.

If he says no, don't make an issue of it (unless you already have another job lined up).

 

[Dragonface]

I can't afford to get my home treated

I'm not looking to point fingers, I'm looking to get the problem fixed, because, again, as I stated, I can't afford to get my home treated. If you had read my whole post you would have seen that I clearly stated I'm unable to afford treating my home. I was exposed to bed bugs because of my line of work. I'm asking if my work place would be responsible for paying for it. Otherwise, I have to choose between food and getting my home treated.

 

[commentator]

There is just no labor law that would require your employer to assist you with getting rid of your bedbugs, no matter how sure you are that you got them from working at his business. If he's a good person, and has the financial leeway to do so, he might agree to help you if you ask nicely (after the fact, as someone else here has suggested) but good folks who are willing to do things like this are not common and there's no law that would require him to do anything, including not get angry and fire you for asking. I'd definitely inform him about this particular bed set, which it sounds like you have done, keep him informed about the issue without demanding reimbursement.

You aren't just going to lie there in bedbugs till someone gives you the money to do the official treatment, are you? Soap and water are cheap, and there are a lot of reasonably priced things you can do to help the problem, even if you don't totally eradicate it without professional pest control. I'd also begin looking for another job if this issue is huge and bothersome and happens so frequently.

 

[commentator]

There is just no labor law that would require your employer to assist you with getting rid of your bedbugs, no matter how sure you are that you got them from working at his business. If he's a good person, and has the financial leeway to do so, he might agree to help you if you ask nicely (after the fact, as someone else here has suggested) but good folks who are willing to do things like this are not common and there's no law that would require him to do anything, including not get angry and fire you for asking. I'd definitely inform him about this particular bed set, which it sounds like you have done, keep him informed about the issue without demanding reimbursement.

You aren't just going to lie there in bedbugs till someone gives you the money to do the official treatment, are you? even if you don't totally eradicate it without professional pest control. I'd also begin looking for another job if this issue is huge and bothersome and happens so frequently.

Not meaning to imply that you simply aren't being clean enough. I understand that this kind of infestation has little to do with general cleanliness, but there is a lot to be said for decluttering so you can get to the basics of the problem. The local agricultural extension office and the EPA may be able to offer you suggestions for reasonably priced alternatives.