The local media recently reported that a man was sentenced to three weeks in jail after he refused the COVID-19 swab test and MC.
59-year-old A.Rahim M. Taha was sentenced to 5 weeks in jail for flouting COVID-19 rules.
What happened?
The Straits Times reported that the Singaporean man works as a pest control technician, the company offers $100 incentives for those who make it through the month without taking medical leave and being at work on time.
In October 2020, Rahim felt ill and visited Yishun Polyclinic. He was told to take an X-Ray and swab test as he has been coughing for three weeks.
After knowing that he would most likely get an MC for visiting the clinic, Rahim changed his mind and leave the clinic and the doctor reported the incident to the Ministry of Health (MOH).
Despite MOH calling him up and telling him to stay at home, Rahim continued to work the next day and visited various locations in Singapore. He was later told to go home as his co-workers noticed that his coughing was severe.
The prosecutor stated that Rahim refused to do the swab test as he wanted to go to work without losing the monthly incentive.
Penalties
Rahim could have been fined $10,000 and up to 6 months jail for non-compliance with safe management measures under the COVID-19 COVID-19 rules.
First-time offenders who breach safe distancing measures are fined $300.
Here is what president Halimah Yacob said (incase the embedded Facebook post is not loaded)
A pest control technician was today sentenced to five weeks jail for potentially exposing the public to the COVID-19 virus. He refused to be swabbed at the polyclinic that he attended for his severe coughing, when he was told that he would be placed on sick leave pending the outcome of the PCR test. His reason was because he feared losing his $100 monthly attendance allowance if he went on mc.
The man’s action is without a doubt irresponsible as he could infect others if he was positive. But this case also highlights another common employment practice that can be detrimental to workers. In order to earn the extra attendance allowance, workers may refuse to take sick leave even when they are unwell, particularly for low wage workers. $100 for someone who earns $1500 a month with a family to feed is a lot of money that can be used to purchase necessities. Incentivising workers to work even when sick, can be dangerous too for those operating machines as it exposes them and others to injury.
The real solution is to make sure that low wage workers are paid better so that they don’t have to depend on such incentives to survive.
For companies that pay such an attendance allowance, what they wish to deter is abuse of sick leave and not penalise those who are genuinely sick by depriving them of the payment. Also, in the current pandemic, it’s not fair to deprive workers of the attendance allowance when they go on sick leave because they are Covid-19 positive or have to wait for the PCR test result. Employers should make this clear to workers.
