[ad_1]
Unlike other peaks in the pandemic, the fourth wave It has stuck in the transition from teleworking to presence. With most of the country on a green traffic light and after the end of the year holiday period, thousands of people would return to their jobs, but for this they require a covid-19 test and to obtain it, they are dealing with long lines, which expose them to contagion, or with assuming the economic cost of the analyzes.
“It is illegal to force workers to pay for covid-19 testing as a requirement to enter the work centers “, reported yesterday the Ministry of Labor and Social Security (STPS). In a brief statement, he warned that, according to current labor legislation, “in no case should the cost be passed on” to staff.
And he recalled that for any guidance or complaint, there is the telephone number 800 717 29 42 or the page of the Digital Office of Worker Attention.
Meanwhile, Omar Estefan, director of Social Welfare of the STPS, explained on his social networks that if companies require negative test of covid-19 its collaborators to access the workplace, employers are obliged to pay it.
“Employers must encourage and provide confidence for staff to stay home or leave the workplace in the presence of symptoms of illness or suspected contagion, even without the need for PCR tests o de antigens“he added.
The issue of testing remains controversial and brings to the discussion corporate, government and worker co-responsibility, as well as viability economical Y epidemiological, agree the specialist in Labor Law Sara Morgan and the Human Resources consultant Luis F. González-Aspuru.
In recent days, thousands of people, mainly in Mexico City, have saturated health institutions, mayors, municipalities, laboratories and private pharmacies in search of a covid-19 test. A good part of them, because they have been requested in their employment.
The point is that “it does not solve the problem in the long term,” says González-Aspuru, the negative result “is just a photo of the moment.” To have the security of a covid-19 free work environment “They would have to request tests on a regular basis, at least every two weeks and that would be a financial burden for anyone. It just isn’t viable. “
Prevention before anything else
Rather than asking for evidence, you should minimize the contagion risk in the facilities, complying with the healthy distance, scheduling constant sanitation and good staff training to remember or reinforce hygiene and safety measures, advises the business development specialist.
And if possible, for those companies that can do so, continue in home officesays Sara Morgan, former head of the Mexico City Labor Defense Attorney.
But it is also important to understand that Omicron variant It is much more contagious and we have to go out to the supermarket or any other errand outside the home. We continue and we will continue to live with this disease, it is even probable that many people contract it and never know it ”, he adds.
According to the US Food and Drug Administration, rapid antigen tests they might be less sensitive to detect omicron. And according to the Global Initiative to Share All Influenza Data (GISAID), more than 70% of the new covid-19 cases in Mexico belong to this variant.
Last Tuesday, the Technical Council of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS), made up of business, labor and government representation, called on companies not to request covid tests at cost to workers for their return to the workplace ”.
For its part, this Wednesday the Employers’ Confederation of the Mexican Republic (Coparmex) Mexico City issued a bulletin in which it assured that the companies it groups “are not requesting covid-19 testing to their collaborators as a requirement for the continuity of the work activity ”.
He argued that they have borne the costs of all prevention protocols and they also continue to “sanitize and ventilate spaces, generating staggered schedules and very importantly, facilitating everything necessary for the home office, in those sectors and turns where they are possible ”.
In its statement, the STPS also addressed the working community and reminded them “the importance of not going to work centers or social gatherings if symptoms compatible with covid-19 are present, so as not to be a potential risk of contagion for other people”.
Popular knowledge
Although Luis González-Aspuru, director of the consulting firm Asgar Corporation, does not consider that the tests are the best option to ensure that the personnel are healthy, “if they still want to implement it, the company would have to pay it”. It is not viable for male and female employees, since the cost represents up to 20% of their salaries, he points out.
For other work activities with more people, for which it is not necessary to attend but the workers themselves choose, “the employee could pay them, with the support of the company, because they have the facility to generate agreements with laboratories”.
“Many large companies are paying for the tests, the problem is for the small and medium businesses (MSMEs) ”, says Sara Morgan. These work centers generate more than 70% of employment in Mexico, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi), and it would also be economically unviable for them, says the former official.
González-Aspuru sees an advantage in those small organizations. “Communication could be more direct because they have fewer people, there is less bureaucracy” and in that case the best strategy would be called to get vaccinated, dice.
“We have to understand that it is not a company or employee problem, it is a social and global problem. I believe that it is through a good conversation, negotiation and wanting to solve that it can be achieved in any organization, of any size. There is no perfect answer about who should pay for the tests, or who is more responsible, we are all “, says the specialist.
“I would also appeal to the collective wisdom “, says Sara Morgan. “Many people want to get rid of this problem, both the employers and the workers. But we all have an obligation to continue to function, as far as possible. Companies should not require proof of non-infection, but staff should leave no doubt that they are taking care of themselves ”.
[ad_2]