Incidents, for now isolated, concerning abuse of the epidemiological picture on the part of some employees in order to be absent from work by pretending to be close contacts of outbreaks, have recently come before employers.
This appears to be a number of workers who, taking advantage of the epidemiological picture, report to their employers that they are close contacts of outbreaks and stay away from their workplaces.
"It has also come to our attention that workers who are not close contacts are falsely declaring that they are. As KEBE we condemn these behaviours and mechanisms should immediately be found to control and stop this unacceptable phenomenon," KEBE General Secretary Marios Tsiakkis said when asked by the Cyprus Times to comment on the information.[/B]
"These behaviours clearly show that there is no respect for the job they hold and it is a mockery to the employers. It is even unthinkable that they should receive benefits after lying. Those who are vaccinated and falsely declare that they are contacts do not justify staying home for quarantine on the basis of protocol."
"We believe that at a time when the majority of businesses are recording losses due to reduced turnover, the last thing they want is such behaviour, which further aggravates the already very difficult situation that businesses are experiencing," he says.
On the other hand, there are no corresponding reports of such phenomena before the OEB, says Michael Antoniou Director General of the Federation of Employers and Industrialists speaking to the Cyprus Times "Incidents of abuse of an abnormal situation have always existed, however in this case not detectable. We have no such thing before us," he said."
As Mr. Antoniou explained, the vast majority of employers, in the event that an employee is declared a close contact, normally pay the employee's full salary and then the employee applies for sickness benefit from the state so that the employer can be paid in the process. "So if it is found that the employer is deceived, we are talking about deceiving the state and a claim based on false facts, with consequences that everyone understands," explains Mr. Antoniou.
Further, he believes that such reports did not reach the Federation because in any case the majority of workers are vaccinated and on the basis of the protocols of the Ministry of Health, there is no instruction for self-isolation unless there are symptoms.
However, business owners who contacted our website reported similar incidents, stating that they found the false reports even through social media with relevant photos posted by persons who should normally be self-contained.
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