Bayside Mall Checkers employees 'turned away after finishing quarantine'

Bayside Mall Checkers employees say they were denied entry to the store when they returned to work after completing the required quarantine period for Covid-19.

According to employees, as many as 60 of them had tested positive for Covid-19 and had completed the 14 days of quarantine.

One employee said she had completed her time in quarantine last Friday, and when she returned to work on Monday, she was turned away.

“They said we must get screened again, and that we must wait for a team to arrive to screen us. We waited and were screened, but the manager said those who tested positive previously could not go inside and must go for another test,” she said.

She said the doctor who had tested her and other employees said they would only need to be tested again if they displayed symptoms.

But despite explaining this to Checkers management, they were told to go for another test, she said.

Another employee, who also tried to return to work this week, said she felt she was being stigmatised. “They have people from an outsourced company working there now, and we are not allowed inside.

"They just let us wait outside the staff entrance, and said we cannot come inside. We are worried about our jobs," she said.

The Provincial Health Department said tests were not routinely repeated after isolation.

“Patients receive a letter stating that their period of isolation is complete... and they are fit to continue daily activities..." the department said..

"No test is administered without screening. Therefore, our facilities will not administer a test unless the person has been screened and meets the criteria through the screening process."

The department added: “We encourage all sectors to comply in this regard and adhere to guidelines provided by the Western Cape Department of Health. We encourage the acceptance of the ‘completion of isolation’ letter as a guarantee that any person presenting this official letter is fit to resume work.”

In response to the employees’ grievances, the Shoprite Group said it was committed to following guidelines provided by the government.

“The Department of Employment and Labour has, with the regulations published on April 29, 2020, outlined that an employer may only allow a worker to return to work if the worker has undergone a medical evaluation confirming that the worker has been tested negative.”

Shoprite added that staff who had close contact with those affected self-quarantined for 14 days and were placed on special leave with full pay. “Where necessary, outsourced labour may be utilised for short periods of time as required.”

Meanwhile, employees at the Khayelitsha SuperSpar are still awaiting the outcomes of their disciplinary hearings on Wednesday. The employees had downed tools, demanding to be tested after two of their colleagues contracted the virus.

Cape Times