Coronavirus: “People are sometimes scared to death”: Risk patients have to keep working – Switzerland

As a rule, the aisles on construction sites are not two meters wide, says Daniel Hullimann *, so you can stand on your head, “the necessary safety distance is simply an illusion”. He was still lucky, by comparison, received gloves, protective mask, disinfectant. But with his 64 years and previous illnesses, as a foreman, who has worked in the same company for six years, Hullimann is not a perfect candidate for the home office. And so the employer doesn’t send him home, he can be afraid as much as he wants.

In the first days of the pandemic at the beginning of March, the federal government still held that people at risk could continue on leave with continued wages if they were unable to do their work in their home office. If there is a medical certificate. However, the Federal Council changed this regulation on March 20: Since then, people at risk can continue to be offered work, provided the employer can guarantee the protective measures. Washing hands and a safety distance of two meters from other people are considered to be such.

Nurses and construction workers complain

But what to do if the measures are not followed? The unions are showing a similar picture these days: Dozens of unsettled workers, mainly in nursing professions, in construction, in production companies, are inquiring about their rights and their possibilities. They do not feel taken seriously by the employer, fear loss of wages or even dismissal – those who speak out are told in some places: if it does not suit you, then you can go. Older employees in particular therefore continue to work. Because the fear of losing your job outweighs your own health. And that of their fellow human beings.

Hullimann lives with his 86-year-old mother, she has been dependent on oxygen for years, every night he puts the baby monitor in her bedroom and checks that she does not run out of air, and now he says: The worst thing about my situation is not that I could die, but that I live with the fear of having my mother on my conscience.

He has had quarantine for 17 days because of his cough, the employer has not yet decided whether these days should be considered sick leave or must take vacations. He has been back on the construction site since the beginning of the week. “Because I need the wages.”

The company has orders from the BAG – and shows no mercy

Manuel Infanger *, 62, has this scenario in mind all the time. He presented his employer with a medical certificate confirming his previous illnesses, lung problems, asthma. He works for a company that also carries out orders for the Federal Office of Public Health. However, the company confirms in writing that it has taken the necessary measures to protect employees, that he will have to stand on the mat again in a week and that no second sick leave would be accepted. The company threatened to fire him if he stayed away from work.

For him, too, a lot is about responsibility and a guilt in the head. «I live with my partner who is chronically ill. If something happens to you, I may be partly responsible, »he says. Both men want to remain anonymous and read other names in the newspaper. Because they fear losing their jobs. “I think they want to get rid of me,” says Infanger. “Because I’m a person who doesn’t put up with everything, and that’s not desirable.”

The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs stated on its website: The right to short-time work has also been extended to people who are considered to be particularly at risk. But many employers in certain industries would not like to do without workers, says Luca Cirigliano, central secretary of the Swiss Confederation of Trade Unions (SGB). And: you would not carry out the risk assessment that would be required in the case of vulnerable employees with sufficient conscientiousness.

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