[ad_1]
Union and employer representatives met with Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonyte on Friday.
Inga Ruginienė, President of the Lithuanian Trade Union Confederation, after the meeting 15 minutes He said he was getting a good message: employees would not have to pay for tests.
“It was transmitted very clearly by the Prime Minister herself that after September 13. nothing changes and for those who have to try, they will have to try. But the government itself compensates for the tests. Requiring an employee to pay for a test or to verify a passport of opportunity, the prime minister confirmed, is illegal. Nothing changes, because it requires amendments to the law, ”said I. Ruginienė.
The interlocutor said that the unions did not agree that the cost of the tests could be passed on to the workers. “In our opinion, the current mandatory medical examination procedure should continue to be used. The employer is responsible for arranging and paying for the medical check-up, and the employee must perform the medical check-up when the employer tells him to do so,” said the interviewee.
Photo by P.Gvildis / Inga Ruginienė
Other topics were discussed at the meeting. One of them is to test employees during work. Union representatives say that some workers take tests in their spare time under pressure from employers, although this should be included in working hours.
“We did not talk about it in detail, but the Prime Minister emphasized that nothing changes: the Labor Code is in force. Medical examinations must be included in working hours or carried out during working hours. Until now, no one has changed those documents and if they have not, they are valid, “said I. Ruginienė.
Another aspect discussed at the meeting is the reluctance to pay for work disability if a person falls ill with COVID-19 and is not vaccinated.
“We cannot accept non-payment of incapacity for work, because we believe that such a measure would be disproportionate. Today, all workers must be assured that if they all pay the same health insurance contributions, benefits must be guaranteed equally. The division into vaccinated and unvaccinated is incomprehensible, ”said I. Ruginienė.
He also added that he had heard other good news for employers: Employers cannot require a passport from them in order to have opportunities. This is for customer verification only.
Employers’ representative: vaccination would need an economic incentive
The president of the Lithuanian Employers’ Confederation, Mr. Arlauskas, described the meeting with the Prime Minister as “interesting”.
“We unanimously agreed that vaccination is the solution to current problems so that we do not end up in quarantine. But the ways to encourage people to get vaccinated are different. There is a consensus among employers that it is not enough to use language or personal examples to encourage people to get vaccinated. ” 15 minutes commented D. Arlauskas.
According to him, vaccination may be motivated by an economic motivation similar to that which has worked in the classification of packaging.
Photo by Sigismund Gedvila / 15min / Dan Arlauskas
“If they lose something after September 13, if attendance is restricted, maybe this will encourage people. Unions see a path differently. They think they should take tests to get money from the state or from the employer. If not We encourage people to get vaccinated, they will continue to do it successfully because it is convenient, but no one answered how much it would cost me, “he said.
D.Arlauskas, based on the statement made by I.Šimonytė that the tests already cost 100 million. It was estimated that if vaccination was not accelerated, this amount could rise to 500 million euros. euros.
He argues that such an incentive to be more active in vaccinating could become an obligation to pay for testing out of pocket.
[ad_2]
