Although the omicron variant does not cause a greater use of intensive therapies, the protocols to act against the disease are still in force. In the case of employees of companies that are on vacation leave, it automatically generates the interruption of it. And if the worker is in the plant, he must stay at home in isolation.
The employers consulted point out that the biggest problem is being caused by isolations due to close contacts on vacation, something that in the eyes of the employer is unprovable. In all cases, whether the vacation license is suspended or the person must stay at home, the company bears the wages.
Until December 31, this cost was covered by the Occupational Risk Insurers (ART). They were obliged to do so by a decree of necessity and urgency, the 39/21 of the Executive Power that declared the labor emergency. Covid-19 was included as an unlisted disease. So, in a case of illness, the insurer covered that eventuality, that is, the treatment and the corresponding part of the salary. The DNU will not be reissued, according to sources from the Ministry of Labor reported to this newspaper, so that the absences that are appearing in this first week of 2022 due to the pandemic represent higher costs, especially for small and medium-sized companies. Business.
“Given the record situation of infections due to the omicron variant of covid-19, the ART is rejecting the requests of sick personnel for being outside the exceptional emergency coverage”, said in a statement the General Business Confederation of the Argentine Republic (CGERA). The head of the entity, Marcelo Fernández, said that “SME entrepreneurs are left very unguarded. In the context of the pandemic, many businessmen and women are wondering why they have insurance if ART does not fulfill its role in the face of covid-19 ”, explained the head of CGERA.
In the Argentine Industrial Union (UIA) it is a matter of observation, said sources of the entity. In principle, the question of treatment costs, they point out, goes from ART to social works, although that would not be the biggest problem for employers. Absenteeism can cause production problems.
Daniel Rosato, head of Industriales Pymes Argentinos (IPA) explained that “the lack of personnel is making companies unable to fulfill orders.” For Rosato, the problem is focusing on the growing number of employees who are requesting close contact leave. “In an SME, seven people who are essential for production are absent and everything stops,” he explained.
“SMEs are already with a 20% absenteeism and it is expected that it will be higher in the coming weeks,” said Rosato, who called the national government, as well as the provincial and municipal administrations, “to form a Crisis Committee in a table together with businessmen and unions to evaluate and take actions that prevent a decline in the recovery of economic activity and private employment ”.
Rosato, who owns two companies, explained that in one of them, a paper mill, has 25% of its staff licensed by covid, while in the other, a metallurgical company, 10%.
In the Ministry of Labor they explained that the coverage by decree of the ART had been dictated in a context of isolation in which few people went to work, and that therefore, the possibility of contagion was less. Currently, they continue with personal health coverage and security forces. In the case of companies, it can be appealed administratively, verifying that the contagion occurred in the workplace.
Source From: Ambito
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