3 employees, 1 of whom has an illness, YES is at greater risk of spreading an illness to the dozens of customers than a customer with an illness reaching across the top of the glass counter.

We are agreed, right that the customer isn't actually coming into contact with the food? Do you think there is a huge risk of germs dropping from their dry hands to the food 2 ft below? More of risk than the employees? And how well are your fellow employees practicing the health dept rules for food safety? Are they frequently washing their hands and putting on a new pair of gloves whenever they come in contact with something else (like touching the register?)?