KUCHING, May 24: Companies violating Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOP) that are involved with workplace outbreaks in Bintulu should bear their own expenses including any swab tests and quarantine costs for their employees.
Bintulu MP Dato Sri Tiong King Sing said such companies that have stubbornly refused to cooperate with the authorities must take responsibility for ignoring the SOP and neglecting their workers’ health.
He said there were companies discovered to be forcing their employees who were Covid-19 positive not to provide the list of close contacts to avoid suspension of the companies’ operations.
“They will stoop as low as threatening their workers with dismissals if they don’t lie on the company’s behalf. If the employees cannot go to work because of being quarantined, they will be forced to apply for unpaid leave or accept salary deductions.
“It has also been discovered that some companies stop their employees from checking in on MySejahtera when reporting to work to prevent the authorities from knowing that more than 30 per cent of their staff have turned up for work in person,” he said.
He added that these companies also forced their employees to pay up their own compounds if they were caught, so to secure their jobs, the employees dared not to speak up or file a complaint against the company.
Thus, Tiong strongly urged the Bintulu Division Disaster Management Committee (DDMC) to take actions against these unlawful companies so that they no longer pressure or threaten their workers to go along with their unsavoury schemes to save company profit.
“The employees are human beings whose health and safety should come first. They are not mere tools for the company to make money,” he added. — DayakDaily
