The reduction in the isolation period announced Tuesday by the Quebec government is causing confusion.
At least, that is what the lawyer specializing in labor law Claude Gravel and the consultant in health and safety at work Steeve Tremblay believe.
“By wanting to make it simple, we make things a bit more complex,” said Me Gravel on LCN airwaves.
“It’s worse than the A-38 Asterix 12 jobs pass. Quebec currently, [dans sa gestion], it looks like a henhouse with hundreds of headless hens who don’t know where to go because the fire has been caught, ”said Steeve Tremblay.
The latter believes that the measures announced do not aim to reduce contamination, but rather to protect the economic system, by relegating workers’ health to the background.
“I have witnessed workers who are harassed by their employer to return to work after five days, despite the symptoms, and that is unacceptable,” said Mr. Tremblay.
The occupational health and safety consultant believes that companies must do more to protect their employees.
“If we ask the health network to offload in order to be able to treat as many people as possible, I think that employers are able to offload in companies also services that are perhaps less necessary and allow people who are sick with symptoms to remain isolated for ten days. It won’t kill anyone, ”he added.
For his part, Me Claude Gravel is not surprised to see that the rules are constantly adjusting.
“At the same time as the virus spreads, our ability to respond, to test and to meet the needs of the population is running out of steam. We are still facing, unfortunately, something that is difficult to predict, ”said Mr.e Gravel.
Steeve Tremblay also advises all workers to contact the CNESST in the event of employer abuse. He adds that the Administrative Labor Court recently ruled that a boss must compensate an employee forced to self-isolate after contracting COVID-19 at work.