Companies hide COVID-19 cases: discipline is interrupted or completely closed

Hidden by small and medium businesses

The president of LPK, V. Janulevičius, explained in the program “Delfi Tema” that diseases in companies are hidden in smaller companies that employ up to 30 people.

“We notice and hear that in small and medium-sized companies these cases are hidden. People are sent on leave without pay or paid to self-quarantine at home.

Then, of course, they give them positive tests and say they don’t know where they were infected, although apparently it could have happened at work, “he explained, noting that in companies it is necessary to isolate people who have been in contact with if the business is smaller, it can also mean a temporary closure of the whole.

“Everything is hidden so that companies do not close, want to continue with their activities, but it is a shortsighted action, because it is better to stop the activities of the company for 2 weeks, to heal and return to full capacity,” he added.

The LPK president said he was aware of 5-6 cases where companies were hiding illnesses.

“To my knowledge, there are 5-6 cases of this type of company. 4 of them are smaller companies and 1 or 2 cases are medium-sized companies. Some of those companies are in Vilnius county, the other 4 are in the regions “Near the big cities. Near Kaunas, Vilnius, North and Klaipeda. These are just those known cases, I think there are more. They are companies that work mainly in the service sector,” he said.

However, according to V. Janulevičius, the larger the company, the more difficult it is for them to hide their illnesses. As stated, larger companies with hundreds or even thousands of employees have separate personnel departments that take a responsible approach to handling the situation in COVID-19.

When asked if he thought large companies had coped better with the pandemic, he said the answer was unequivocal.

“Undoubtedly, tens of thousands of euros are being spent on COVID-19 testing, because a large company suffers a huge loss if there are many sick workers, so a huge amount is tested in thousands, hundreds of cases and health checks, and if there are diseases, people are isolated because perhaps awareness in large cities is greater than in some regions, “he said.

Unions: we receive these types of complaints

Inga Ruginienė, president of the Lithuanian Trade Union Confederation, also said she learned of cases in which employers instruct employees to hide infected COVID-19.

“We have an infinite number of calls, people generally ask what to do and there are cases that you mentioned.

In my opinion, even one of those cases is too much because for an infected person to hide their symptoms, or certain information, if both the employee and the employer do, it is a criminal offense against their colleagues, other employees, against the company where works. “He said on the show, explaining that this is how companies simply try to maintain their business, their profits, but it is all done at the expense of the employees’ own health.

“We cannot tolerate these types of cases, we have to make them public, talk about them and explain to both employees and employers that today it is important to look at the situation responsibly, follow the safety requirements as much as possible and create the right conditions for the employee to feel safe, “I said. Ruginiene.

According to her, the unions do not escape the complaints of the main industries, but they are not involved in the cases of cover-up of the disease.

There are good decisions that companies make that they can be proud of, such as reorganizing the flow of the workers themselves, protection measures not only for workers but also for family members, food for isolated workers. <..>

But there are also companies with bottlenecks, misunderstandings, lack of communication. There are problems in those companies where there is no dialogue. But to say that the entire industrial sector is doing badly would be a mistake, “he said.

More time exceptions

Dalia Matukienė, president of the Council of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, responded to the speeches on the cases of coronavirus hidden by small and medium-sized enterprises, said that the Council of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises of Lithuania represents 300 thousand people. people who work with individual activities and business licenses and about 97 thousand. small and very small companies, so if there are, they are very few.

“If there are 3 or 5 cases of this type and we are talking about that, let’s see what the percentage is, 0.000.” percent those who are dishonest or perhaps did not do something to the end or had a reason.

I don’t think this is a special case. On the other hand, there are responsible authorities who have to deal with this situation and, after receiving at least one report that someone has gotten sick somewhere and is hiding something, they simply have to take all possible measures to prevent it from happening again. such things. <…>

I think they are big exceptions, ”he said.

When asked what he thought should be done to prevent these types of cookie companies, he said there were possible solutions.

“Perhaps those with more employees should be compensated for research in private institutions. And the managers of those companies that hide the facts (diseases – ed.), After receiving a certain signal, they must attend them to the competent authorities. <…>

Working groups have been created with representatives of all interested parties. It is possible to discuss, draw a certain algorithm and see what would really help, perhaps it could be compensation for tests or certain security measures, it is necessary to negotiate and observe ”, said D. Matukienė.

Offers to remove support, perform inspections, even shut down

V. Janulevičius also stated that he believes that the State should be able to control and verify compliance with instructions by companies and, if the information is found to be hidden, impose sanctions, stop requesting support.

“I think it will deter other companies from hiding cases because they would be eliminated from the aid. After finding the fault of the owners, the managers, who if they did it deliberately, they just get out of the circle of help and it will be the most effective. And the companies When they know that it may be like that, that it has not been like that up to now, they will resolve it automatically, ”he suggested.

D. Matukienė explained that he agreed that the whole business could even be closed temporarily.

“I would even support a strict shutdown of the entire business. Let’s close on the 20th or until Christmas, New Years and then make some time to stop the virus, <…>, because we see that the measures that are being introduced now do not work ”, he said.