Employers ‘forcing’ workers to return despite Covid exposure

A number of employers in the city have been piling pressure on staff to return to work despite their close-contact status.

That’s according to a number of workers who contacted the Galway City Tribune to report being ‘forced’ back to work in sectors including hospitality and retail – despite an incomplete period of self-isolation.

One of these, who asked not to be named, said she was warned there  would be ‘consequences’ if she didn’t return to work in a city hotel after only five days of a ten-day isolation period.

“They rang me and said I had to come in. When I refused, they told me I would be left off the roster after my isolation was finished even though I explained I would have to risk somebody else getting Covid to get a lift to work,” explained the 18-year-old who had been staying in her room away from family for the isolation period.

Another worker who contacted the Tribune said his employer told him they were facing having to shut up shop due to staff shortages.

“My boss said I was needed and made me feel like it was my fault there had been a Covid outbreak in there,” said the retail worker who tested positive two days after refusing to break their quarantine.

A third worker said that because she had only recently started a new job in a city restaurant when she was informed she was a close contact, her employer just ‘cut me loose’.

Employees have the right to register a complaint with the Workplace Relations Commission if their rights are breached and can make a complaint to the Health and Safety Authority if their employer tries to circumvent Covid rules.

However, the retail worker told this newspaper that the process of making a complaint was long drawn out and ‘seemed like more hassle than it was worth’.

“Thankfully my employer didn’t let me go but that pressure was there all the time I was off, even though there was nothing I could do. I felt like making a complaint would only make matters worse, but I know of colleagues who gave into the pressure and went to work – even some that had symptoms. They just avoided getting a test because they were afraid they’d lose their job,” he said.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.

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