Immunocompromised workers say they were told to take unpaid leave or come to work

Thursday, 26 March 2020

Two essential workers say their company is forcing them to come to work, or take unpaid leave, throughout the lockdown, despite being immunocompromised.

The workers, who Stuff has agreed not to name, work for Latitude Financial Services; one has a respiratory condition, the other is diabetic.

They said the company asked for medical certificates to prove they required either special leave, or be allowed to work from home for the next four weeks, but were told no when they provided the certificates.

Last Thursday, their building had a confirmed case of covid-19, which their company notified them of on Monday, the workers claimed.

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One worker said she felt the company was prioritising money over workers.

Since providing the medical certificate she had been diagnosed with the flu and, with no sick leave left, was now on unpaid leave, she said.

The second worker said she had provided a medical certificate proving she was a diabetic and therefore should not be at work, but had been told to work or take leave without pay.

'I am very disappointed in the company.'

However, when approach by Stuff their employer said that both workers were on paid leave, contradicting their claims.

A spokeswoman for Latitude said any employee with an underlying health risk was urged to stay at home.

A new special leave policy had been established for those unable to work from home, which allowed workers with a high-risk health condition an extra 10 days of leave.

She disagreed with the workers claims that there had been a confirmed covid-19 case in the building last Thursday, saying the case was confirmed on Sunday.

The office had been deep-cleaned after the confirmed case of covid-19, and those who had been in close contact with the worker were told to self-isolate.

Some workers are feeling exploited by employers taking advantage during the pandemic.

The spokeswoman said employees were able to access the Government's covid-19 leave payment, which was designed for people who needed to self-isolate.

Retail and finance organiser at FIRST Union, Kate Davis, said the union wanted all businesses to do everything they can to look after their workers.

Wellington buses were nearly empty as the country prepared to lockdown.

A worker for Swissport, which does ground work for Jetstar, Virgin Australia, and Fiji Airways, said staff had been forced to take unpaid leave, and some had felt pressured into resigning.

The worker said the company told them they were not eligible for a wage subsidy, and had not given advice about what financial assistance they would be eligible for. 'They've left us in the unknown.'

A spokesperson for Swissport NZ said Covid-19 had led to an unprecedented situation for the aviation sector.

A sign warning of the closure of a Wellington playground.

'At this stage, we are working on a case-by-case basis to ask some of our local team members to take leave without pay.

The normally busy Willis Street shortly before 9am on Wednesday morning.

'We have also organised a number of cross-industry opportunities with organisations supplying labour to Countdown and Foodstuff to help keep as many members of our team in paid work for as long as possible.'

President of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Richard Wagstaff said at an affiliate meeting on Tuesday, unions had raised issues of employers not taking care of their employees during this time.

Concerns included companies laying people off rather than accessing relief packages, companies 'self-labelling' as essential and telling their workers they had to continue working, and workers being forced to take sick leave or annual leave while on lockdown.

But he was pleased the majority of companies were doing right by their workers.

By Wednesday morning, the Ministry of Social Development had received 189,880 applications for the COVID-19 wage subsidy, and 17,113 applications for the COVID-19 leave payment.

Business New Zealand CEO Kirk Hope said it was important employers received the right information in what was a fast-moving situation.

The Government's Covid-19 website was a good source of information, and Business NZ advice lines were also open.

Not every business was going to survive, but the four-week lockdown gave employers more certainty than they had a month ago, Hope said.