Home » Business » Vital companies want faster corona tests, because they desperately need staff

Vital companies want faster corona tests, because they desperately need staff

Those who want to be tested for corona cannot always go directly to the test street and will soon wait more than a day for the results. Those waiting times are a problem, because it is not the intention for someone to come to the workplace if the test result is still unknown. As a result, employers sometimes cannot complete the rosters and employees with flex contracts are afraid that they will miss a salary or even lose their job and therefore go to work anyway.

Employers fear the consequences of a second wave if tests cannot be administered and processed faster. Companies in vital sectors, such as healthcare and the food sector, therefore demand priority in testing. A solution has not yet been found.

VNO-NCW and MKB Nederland see the struggle of companies that want to create a safe working environment on the one hand, but where there is a lot of work to be done on the other. These interest groups also want a rapid improvement in waiting and processing times. “It is essential that testing goes quickly and smoothly. For society, for the economy and simply because you want to know quickly yourself”, says VNO-NCW. “Fortunately, the GGDs recognize this problem and are working hard on it.”

Stock fillers and cashiers

One of those industries where personnel must be physically present is the food and logistics sector, such as supermarkets. In order not to leave staff at home for an unnecessarily long time, sector organization CBL is meeting with the government to give staff priority in testing.

“There are no extreme situations yet,” said a spokesman. “But we want to prevent them from developing. If an employee is ill, many colleagues can come out of a source and contact investigation. Now that the number of infections is increasing, the chance is increasing.”

According to the industry, the fact that it is still ‘to do’ has to do with the small contracts in the supermarket world. “Stock fillers or cashiers often work a number of hours a day. If a single employee is sick, it can be taken care of. But if that group grows, it can lead to problems.”

Student Sasha Koevoets (22) works part-time in the bread department of Albert Heijn. His supervisor immediately reported him ill when he indicated that he would start testing. He had flu-like symptoms. “So a lot of understanding. Fortunately this result was negative.”

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.