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One of the nation’s largest chicken processors has advocated charging its plant personnel for personal protective equipment (PPE).
Manor Farm, which operates plants and offices in Cavan, Monaghan and Meath counties, provides chicken products to a variety of the largest supermarkets in the country and employs around 750 people.
Payment receipts viewed by the show that some employees were deducted up to € 50 directly from their salary for the price of PPE during the pandemic.
A spokesman for the Manor Farm company told the : “There is a PPE deduction for all new starts in the business.
“A one-time deduction / charge of € 50.
“This one-time pay deduction is reimbursed to employees after 12 weeks through payroll.
“For the avoidance of any doubt, this is a pre-Covid-19 policy. The policy was implemented in 2014.”
It is understood that the company had an issue previously with new entrants fully outfitting in the PPE and then leaving shortly thereafter, leading to the 12-week policy and the charge was later reimbursed via payroll at employee.
Company policy also refers to seasonal workers, including students.
Proper PPE is considered essential to stop the spread of Covid-19 in meat processing plants.
Concerns about the welfare of meat processing workers have been expressed regarding the spread of Covid-19 for several months, more than 1,500 cases have been linked to outbreaks in meat plants.
A series of outbreaks related to meat processing plants led to county-wide closures last month in Kildare, Laois and Offaly.
Last week, the Siptu union and Meat Industry Ireland agreed on a “wide-ranging safety protocol” for workers in the meat processing industry, including a pledge to maintain serial testing of workers in meat plants and “the use mandatory PPE “.
Siptu division organizer Greg Ennis says charging workers for the provision or use of PPE in any circumstance is “deplorable.”
“This goes against the ‘common purposes’ displayed by other industries and, indeed, by most other employers within the meat processing sector,” he said.
“For any employer to do it in the middle of a pandemic is reprehensible,” he said.
He called on such outliers in the industry to “take ownership” and use their significant financial resources to supply the necessary PPE.
A spokesperson for Meat Industry Ireland said the industry was working hard to contain the virus and was not aware of any charges by the PPE.
“The Irish meat industry is not aware of such a situation.
“Employers provide PPE of all kinds to personnel as the industry continues to work tirelessly to protect employees during the course of this pandemic.”
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