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, t ...

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) * Hobart Huson, author of several drug related books Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm * Airstrike, ...

. The International Labour Office, a

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

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 healthcare 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 emergency ...

and other healthcare, utilities such as

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

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. Th ...

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of the government or other social institutions who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by investigating, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms gove ...

and

firefighting Firefighting is a profession aimed at controlling and extinguishing fire. A person who engages in firefighting is known as a firefighter or fireman. Firefighters typically undergo a high degree of technical training. This involves structural fir ...

, and

food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for Nutrient, nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or Fungus, fungal origin and contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, protein (nutrient), proteins, vitamins, ...

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 and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, 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. United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the Interior minister, interior, Home Secretary ...

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is a component of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) responsible for cybersecurity and infrastructure protection across all levels of government, coordinating cyber ...

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 i ...

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