The reduction in the period of isolation announced by the Quebec government is causing confusion, according to the lawyer specializing in labor law Me Claude Gravel and the occupational health and safety consultant Steeve Tremblay.
• Read also: Quebec gets its hands on a significant amount of rapid tests
• Read also: Isolation of people with COVID-19 increased from 10 to 5 days for those vaccinated in Quebec
• Read also: The FTQ worries about new measures in terms of isolation
“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 pass of the 12 works of Asterix. Quebec currently, the way it is managed, it looks like a henhouse with hundreds of headless hens who do not know where to go because the fire is caught ”, proclaims Steeve Tremblay for his part.
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 show 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 patients with symptoms to remain isolated for ten days. It won’t kill anyone. ”
For his part, Me Claude Gravel is not surprised that the rules are constantly adjusting.
“At the same time as there is a spread of the virus, our ability to respond, to test and to meet the needs of the population is running out of steam and we are still facing, unfortunately, something that is difficult to predict. “
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.
To see the full interview, watch the video above.