(WHEC) Rochester Eclipse: How Businesses are Preparing for Impacts on Employees

Could you imagine the driving nightmare, with hundreds of thousands of people expected to be in the area? Marsha spoke to leaders at one business, who said they’d decided to cut their employees some slack.
Visit Rochester is bracing for a staggering influx of 300,000 to 500,000 people into the greater Rochester area on April 8 for the total solar eclipse. This surge is bound to pose significant transportation and public safety challenges.
Some forward-thinking workplaces are already planning to grant their employees a day off to preempt the congestion that the eclipse is expected to trigger. Robert Burns, from Sunnking in Brockport, advocates for this approach, stating that it’s better for employees to stay home on that day.
They’ve come up with a solution: they will give their staff the day off with pay, and they won’t have to use a vacation day.
“We have decided instead of doing Monday through Thursday, we are going to push all of our teams to work Tuesday through Friday because of the consequences of an eclipse going over your town,” says Burns. “So one: they just have to shift over their weekdays. But two: they get to enjoy it themselves without I having to be at work at a certain hour or have to be home at a certain hour.”