In human resources teams, the problem has been identified for a long time.
Yes, employees hide their Covid-19 contamination from their management in order to avoid losing part of their remuneration when they are placed on sick leave.
This is particularly the case at SNCF.
In a press release released at the beginning of September, the association of HRDs of large communities thus asks the government to suspend the waiting day again: "The application of [this] day, which results in a loss of remuneration, particularly for agents who have low salaries, may cause agents not to report when they have Covid with mild symptoms, if they are asymptomatic or when they are in contact.
They then continue to come to work at the risk of endangering their colleagues.
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A request for the moment remained in vain: “The government must stop bracing itself, urges Johan Theuret, president of this association of HRD.
It is a matter of public health.
“While waiting for a positive response from the executive, some communities are considering taking on the day of deficiency.
An employee has the obligation to protect his colleagues
But what is the risk of an employee who does not notify his employer that he has been contaminated by Covid-19?
"He may be the subject of a disciplinary sanction up to dismissal, or even, depending on the severity, to criminal sanctions", warns Eric Rocheblave, lawyer specializing in labor law.
Indeed, if the Labor Code recognizes respect for private life, it also requires employees to protect their colleagues.
“Case law in this area is constant,” continues the lawyer.
You cannot hide your state of health if it can endanger the people you work with.
To reconcile these two principles, private life and the obligation to alert one's employer, there is the occupational physician.
“Kept by professional secrecy, it will not be able to inform the employer that the employee is carrying the virus but can declare it and prescribe a work stoppage.
