Havana, Wednesday November 11, 2009. Year 13 / Number 316
Labor and wage agreements
in cases of influenza A H1N1
By: Lourdes Pérez Navarro
A CubaNews translation. Edited by Walter Lippmann.
During the stages of response to and recovery from disasters caused by nature (hurricanes, heavy rainfall, storm surges, earthquakes), technology (disastrous car accidents, collapsing buildings, failure of levee systems) and disease (epidemic outbreaks), the Cuban state takes every measure in its power to prevent life loss and people’s wellbeing.
Our workers, an important sector, are specifically protected by Resolution No. 90, issued by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security (MTSS) in July 2009.
In order to protect a worker’s income as much as possible, legal regulations are in force that point managers to the labor and wage agreements they must apply to those unable to show up for work as a result of any of the above situations or the preventive actions undertaken by the relevant authorities.
As laid down in the Resolution, “Where appropriate and after consulting with the Ministry of Public Health, MTSS will decide whether any additional or different labor and wage agreement should be applied to workers in cases of disasters caused by disease".
Such is the case of the Influenza A virus subtype A H1N1, an epidemic wreaking havoc throughout the world these days that spares no country, including Cuba. In view of these circumstances, MTSS disseminated a number of instructions in mid-October.
WHEN AND HOW TO PAY
Once ascertained that the absence of a worker is caused by the A H1N1 influenza and the applicable medical certificate has been duly submitted, the management will proceed to fulfill the relevant labor and wage agreement.
If the medical test proves positive and the workers must be hospitalized, remain at home or stay in any temporary accommodation or other lodgings fitted out to that end on doctor’s orders to prevent the disease from spreading, they will be paid their whole salary for as long as they are quarantined.
A working mother unable to go to work because the child in her care caught the disease, or is suspected to be infected, and both have been admitted in a health care facility as a result or compelled to stay at home or any other facility fitted out to that end, to prevent the disease from spreading, must submit to the management a medical certificate stating her situation and she will get her whole salary for the duration. The same goes for working mothers whose children must stay at home when their daycare center or primary school has been closed owing to the epidemics.
These health requirements established by the relevant authorities and bodies are legally binding on all managers, who will also be on the alert for any symptoms of the A H1N1 influenza among their employees.
When a case is detected, they must restrict the involved person’s access to the workplace and demand that they go to a hospital for confirmation. If doctors rule out the possibility of infection, the absence from work will not be taken into account and the day’s wages will be paid in full.
If as a result of a health situation the relevant authority decides to stop or suspend work –be it in production or service organizations, schools, daycare centers, etc.– all workers exempt from duty for that reason will be temporarily relocated in other workplaces and entitled to get their whole salary.
Should relocation be impossible, the workers will get their full salary for a 30-day period and 60% for the rest of the working days. Those workers who refuse to be relocated without any good reason will not be covered by these safeguards.
http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu/2009/11/11/nacional/artic02.html
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