Essential services may refer to a class of
occupations that have been
legislated by a government to have special restrictions in regard to
labour actions such as not being allowed to
strike.
Industries defined as essential services differ based on the organization or government but generally include services such as
hospitals and other healthcare, utilities such as
electricity and
water supply,
law enforcement and
firefighting, and
food services.
Public health emergencies
"Essential services" may also refer to those services that are vital to the health and welfare of a population and so are essential to maintain even in a disaster.[2] During the
COVID-19 pandemic, many jurisdictions ordered non-essential services to close for several weeks in an effort to control the spread of the virus.[3] The
United States Department of Homeland Security's
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued a nation-wide
guidance document that defined activities that the Agency had determined to be "essential" to the control of the pandemic and the management of its effects.[4]
Examples of industries in which at least some workers were classified as "essential" during the pandemic included:
Health care, public health, and human services
Law enforcement, public safety, and first responders
Food and agriculture
Energy
Water and wastewater
Transportation and logistics
Public works
Communications and information technology
Other community-based essential functions and government operations
Critical manufacturing
Supply chains
Retail and wholesaling
Food services and accommodations
Institutional, residential, commercial, and industrial maintenance
Manufacturing and production
Construction
Financial activities
Resources
Environmental services
Utilities and community services
Communications industries
Research
Justice
Business regulators and inspectors
References
^International Labour OrganizationArchived October 24, 2011, at the
Wayback Machine, Freedom of association – Digest of decisions and principles of the Freedom of Association Committee of the Governing Body of the ILO. Fifth (revised) edition, 2006.