Business players are calling for the next deliveries of rapid tests to be targeted primarily at companies, given the absenteeism caused by suspicions of COVID-19.
• Read also: 3 million more rapid tests in pharmacies starting Thursday
• Read also: Quebec expects 24.7 million rapid tests, in addition to those provided by Ottawa
“Before, employees could do a PCR test, and it was a day or two away. But there they have to isolate themselves for five days, ”underlines Manon Poirier, Executive Director of the Order of Approved Human Resources Advisors of Quebec (CRHA).
The latter, like many, would like companies to have easy access to the 30 million precious rapid tests that the province will receive in January from the federal government and the 24 million tests ordered by Quebec.
Indeed, without the possibility of obtaining a diagnosis, employees must be absent as a precaution, which can slow down or even paralyze business activities.
“We cannot continue to exclude workers for symptoms of COVID [sans savoir s’ils l’ont réellement]. It will become unmanageable, ”adds Karl Blackburn, president of the Quebec Employers Council.
According to him, the distribution of these tests by companies could even make it possible to “kill two birds with one stone” by facilitating the tracing by Public Health of outbreaks in the workplace.
A disturbing blur
In the meantime, some companies have purchased rapid tests at their expense, he illustrates. Others ask for a negative result of a private PCR test before their return to work, testifies Mme Pear tree.
However, making its employees pay for a PCR test that is required is “very delicate, from a legal point of view,” warns Marie-Claude Riou, lawyer in labor law.
On the side of the unions, we warn that the vagueness that reigns concerning absences linked to COVID-19 in the absence of rapid tests opens the door to abuse.
“It is our fear that employers will put pressure on people to come back to work more quickly because of the labor shortage,” said Denis Bolduc, secretary general of the Quebec Federation of Workers. (FTQ).
At this time, the inability to produce proof that we have COVID is also causing anxiety among sick employees.
“It adds a layer of worry. Employees say to themselves: “Will my employer believe me?” Says Caroline Senneville, president of the Confederation of National Trade Unions (CSN).
In all cases, the stakeholders consulted by The newspaper call for trust and flexibility in each other.
For its part, the office of the Minister of Health specifies that it will continue to prioritize the most vulnerable populations, including those who attend schools and daycare centers.
We also note that pharmacy distribution allows the general population, and not only workers, to have access to tests.
“The transmission is community, it is Quebec as a whole which is at the request of these rapid tests”, supports in writing Marjaurie Côté-Boileau, press officer.
In the last year, more than a million tests have nevertheless been granted to companies.