Essential services may refer to a class of

occupations Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...

that have been legislated by a government to have special restrictions in regard to labour actions such as not being allowed to

strike Strike may refer to: People * Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...

. The

International Labour Office The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and ol ...

, a

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

agency, distinguishes an essential service from a minimum service.International Labour Organization
, 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. Industries defined as essential services differ based on the organization or government but generally include services such as

hospitals A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

and other healthcare, utilities such as

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as describ ...

and

water supply Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. Thes ...

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules Rule or ruling may refer to: Education ...

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. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, many jurisdictions ordered non-essential services to close for several weeks in an effort to control the spread of the virus. The

United States Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terr ...

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that is responsible for strengthening cybersecurity and infrastructure protection across all levels of government, ...

issued a nation-wide

guidance document Administrative guidance is non-binding advice given by an administrative agency to the public regarding how best to comply with a particular law or regulation. It may also be referred to by terms such as "advice" or "recommendation." Guidance is ...

that defined activities that the Agency had determined to be "essential" to the control of the pandemic and the management of its effects. 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

{{reflist Labor relations Labour law