As a nurse who had to quit working because of inadequate PPE supplies, I know that curbing the spread of COVID 19 is essential. The more we prevent, the less we have to pay in treatment costs, and nurses are among those costs. I have been a single mom, sole support, working in jobs without any benefits since I moved to Virginia in 1989 and I know very well how people go to work sick because they can't afford not to. This includes health care aides. 

If employers were going to provide benefits to part time and shift workers because it is the right thing to do, this would have happened a long time ago. I am convinced that it will never happen without legislation, and that the benefits of enforcement outweigh the costs. Part time workers hold up my own industry (health care) and hold up many other essential industries as well.