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“A huge reporting error was made when the tests themselves were called mandatory and presented as a separate phenomenon. When we think of testing in the workplace, we should talk about mandatory health checks, that’s the correct name. The mandatory health exams are still in force, they are defined in the Occupational Health Law. Each employee must undergo a medical check-up according to the risk factors specified by the employer, ”I. Ruginienė told Eltai.
“Similarly, health screenings are done periodically and COVID-19 testing is part of that process. Mandatory health screenings include a number of risk factors, including biological risk factors. So far we have not had a COVID-19 pandemic, so now a new risk factor has emerged, “he added.
I. Ruginienė emphasized that the requirements for periodic medical examinations do not change after completing the list of hazards found at work.
“In this case, the government had to make it clear to the population that they were simply adding another factor to the list of risk factors and that the process (medical check-up – ELTA) would not change. And now an employer can instruct an employee to undergo a mandatory medical checkup at any time, even extraordinarily, if there are additional risk factors at work, or it may suspect that the employee needs an additional checkup because it is not safe for him. him to work at work, ”he said.
According to I. Ruginienė, regardless of who reimburses the costs of testing, testing remains the responsibility of the employer.
“The only thing is that now the employer has to assume all the organizational work and financial responsibility. Because the law makes it clear that medical checks are the employer’s responsibility, whether or not there is compensation, the employer must perform them. If the state sees that this is necessary, it may decide to help one or another company with compensatory tools. But because of that, the responsibility of the employer does not disappear anywhere, “he told Eltai.
Meanwhile, with the release of the quarantine and the return of more and more people to work, there are far fewer complaints than before, said I. Ruginienė.
“We didn’t get a lot of complaints about the release from quarantine, which is really different from spring and maybe early fall when the number of illnesses was in full swing. Then we got a number of complaints about job security. In the meantime Now (…) everyone is probably used to masks, disinfectant fluids, the need to ventilate the room, control the flow of people, and this is already becoming common, “he said.
However, I. Ruginienė noted that not all employers guarantee high-quality use of COVID-19 preventive measures.
“What we really notice is not the absence of the processes themselves, but the lack of quality assurance. We get questions about the quality of the masks and the frequency of their use. Usually, anyone who goes to the store sees that the employee is wearing a mask, but we don’t think about how old he is, if he really changes every two hours, if he’s a doctor, confirmed by certificates, “he said.
“There should be a very strong recommendation that all workers should receive respirators and that they should be replaced according to the manufacturer’s instructions. We are waiting for it from the Government ”, emphasized I. Ruginienė.
ELTA recalls that the Government has presented to the Seimas a reform to the Law for the Prevention and Control of Communicable Diseases, which proposes that employees take the test or, if possible, telework in case of suspicion of COVID-19 or an outbreak of coronavirus. in a company.
If the Seimas passes this amendment to the law, the Government would have the right to further determine the work areas and activities in which employees who have undergone additional tests for COVID-19 are allowed to work.
The Communicable Disease Prevention and Control Act amendment also provides that additional health examinations of employees due to a communicable disease for which an emergency or quarantine has been declared at the state level may be funded from the state budget or paid by the employer. .
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