FIRMS allowed to operate during the movement-control order should pay for their workers’ Covid-19 tests and not Socso, said the Malaysian Trades Union Congress.
It hit out at Minister of International Trade and Industry Azmin Ali, who said yesterday Socso would pay the cost of Covid-19 screenings for workers, as the fund is meant to protect injured or sick workers and their families.
“MTUC is aghast with the minister’s statement that Socso will pick up the tab for the compulsory screening which will cost millions of ringgit and further deplete Socso’s dwindling coffers.
“If employers are keen to resume operations, which will obviously mainly benefit the company, it is only logical that they pay for the screening,” MTUC secretary-general J. Solomon said in a statement.
The workers’ compensation fund is built from monthly contributions from both workers and employers.
“It is shocking that the government has no second thoughts about dipping into the hard-earned savings of poor workers to fund Covid-19 screenings which will benefit employers who get away scot-free from the burden of paying for the screenings of their own employees.
“By using Socso funds for mandatory Covid-19 screening of workers, this government is blatantly treating Socso as its cash cow to fund pro-employer policies,” MTUC said, urging Azmin to justify why employers should be exempted from paying their workers’ Covid-19 screenings.
“These are workers needed by employers to restart making profits and yet it is Socso which has to pick up the bill to make that happen. This is blatantly unfair and lopsided.”
MTUC also said the authorities must check all workplaces allowed to operate during the MCO, as it has received complaints from workers that some employers are not practising health safety measures.
Workers are complaining that social distancing is not enforced in factory buses and company cafeterias. One such complaint came from a factory with 1,000 workers in each shift.
MTUC said the government should allow factories and workplaces to hire Rela and police voluntary reserve personnel to strengthen social distancing and other hygiene regulations at these places. – April 17, 2020.
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