As states lift lockdowns, workers called back to their jobs have little recourse if they think their workplace is unsafe.

The Trump administration has encouraged states to terminate unemployment benefits for people who refuse to go back to work. And if workers are worried their employer is creating an unsafe work environment by not requiring mask use or enforcing social distancing, for example the administration has said those individuals should file a complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Thats what Brian Bevan, who worked at a store that sells gas fireplaces and grills near Philadelphia, did after his boss asked him to return to work last month after furloughing staff in March. Bevan installed fireplaces and did routine maintenance inside peoples homes, which he felt was a bad idea amid an ongoing pandemic. He filed a complaint with OSHA saying his employer was risking its employees health by continuing the home visits.

They had the mayor, they had all kinds of people going on TV telling people to stay home, he said.

When the lockdowns started, it was typical for firms that didnt seem so essential think closet installers and used car dealers to deem themselves exempt from government restrictions on commerce that were meant to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Its not hard to understand why, as the pandemic has devastated small businesses across the country.

Now every state has begun reopening, forcing many workers back to their jobs even though theres still no national strategy for testing.

Pennsylvania relaxed restrictions in most counties that had been on the strictest lockdown protocol earlier this month. Bevans employer, Salters Fireplace Patio Grill, does not appear on the list of businesses exempt from the states closure order. (Several fireplace shops that do similar work, however, appeared on a separate list of firms told they did not need to ask for an exemption.)

The OSHA guidance for in-home repair work states that if the work is routine or preventative, rather than an emergency, then businesses should consider postponing the work and not entering the dwelling until the COVID-19 pandemic ends.

But like so much else coming from OSHA during the pandemic, it was little more than a friendly recommendation: This guidance is not a standard or regulation, and it creates no new legal obligations.

Bevan provided emails indicating hed talked to an OSHA compliance officer about filing the complaint, but said he doesnt know its status. When I spoke to OSHA initially they said a fireplace shop was the farthest thing from essential that he ever heard of, he said.

The owners of Salters did not respond to HuffPosts requests for comment. They were not oblivious to the risk facing their employees, telling them in an April guidance document that if theyre entering a residence they should ask if anyone is sick and for people to vacate the room where work is happening.

Bevan, 42, said his wife is immunocompromised and that one of their children has respiratory problems. He didnt think it would be wise to enter peoples homes at all, especially since hes usually doing new, elective installations rather than repairs that help people heat their homes.

I was very worried about bringing [the coronavirus] home and being the cause of my wife dying, he said. She was told by her doctor she was not allowed to leave the house.

A few weeks after he filed his complaint, Bevan said, his manager told him in an email that the company was letting him go. The company has apparently not challenged his unemployment claim, however, and he has kept his unemployment benefits. He said hes starting a new job in July that wont involve going into peoples homes.