A factory in Maju Jaya Industrial Park, Kempas, Johor, has allegedly been asking its employees to return to work despite testing positive for Covid-19 due to the lack of manpower.
One of its employees, who wishes to remain anonymous, spoke to Oriental Daily to reveal that the management of the factory he works at instructed these employees to return to work on 4 January, causing panic among other employees.
According to a screenshot of the message provided by the employee, the management issued a notice on 1 January, instructing its employees who tested negative for Covid-19 to resume work on 2 January.
However, those who tested positive for the virus but did not get any wristband from the Ministry of Health (MOH) were also required to report back to work.
“All who tested positive and without KKM wrist bands are required to start work on Monday, 4 January 2021,” the message said.
On the other hand, those who tested positive and were given wristbands were required to follow the quarantine dates given by the MOH.
“Please report to HR if you have KKM wrist band and please provide the dates.”
The employee said that the factory’s practices made all the workers feel uneasy and mentioned that all the employees had to share the same toilet.
He added that he and his colleagues have since filed a complaint to the Ministry of Health and the National Security Council but failed to get any follow-up. He further explains that the factory also did not formally notify the employees if an employee was diagnosed with Covid-19. It was only on 24 December 2020 that he was told he needed to get tested.
He hopes that the company will at least instruct the Covid-19-positive employees and those in contact with them to stay at home to prevent the virus from spreading to more people. After all, other employees have elderly people and children at home.
According to Bernama, Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan said that his ministry regrets to inform that there were still companies that refuse to make reports on their employees who tested positive for Covid-19 for fear of not being able to operate at full capacity.
“I have given a warning to the manufacturing and construction companies. There are also positive cases but (employers) do not inform the Health Ministry (MOH) for fear they will not be able to operate,” he said, adding that such a move was a bad practice or culture by employers, especially when the country is struggling to handle the pandemic.
“I urge employers if there is a positive case, please inform the MOH (for further action),” he said.
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