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Ask HN: Help. Covid case at work; remote work is being denied. EU region.

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Re: Ask HN: Help. Covid case at work; remote work is being denied. EU region.

#21

Post by bfung »

TYPE-ERROR wrote: post #13

I finally got my user off the shadow ban. It is a throw-away account. Thank you Daniel! I realize this is a low-signal post, but I'm still here, unable to sleep, feeling utterly disrespected as a cysec professional. A few days ago I was a valued member of the team, now upper management is using fear and intimidation to keep a semblance of normality for as long as possible: You want to go home? We won't have you back.…

At this point, you should look out for yourself - why worry about affecting your employer if they’re the ones putting you at risk?

If you have enough saved up, quit and be safer. That will signal to your team and they can make their own adult choices.

If you think you have corona already, take sick leave.

Re: Ask HN: Help. Covid case at work; remote work is being denied. EU region.

#22

Post by TYPE-ERROR »

iandanforth wrote: post #18
viraptor wrote: post #3

If you're not allowed to work from home, stop working. Contact your doctor and request relevant paperwork to stop work and go into isolation. (if this is possible in your country - depending on the country, "I've been in contact with a case" may be enough) But also keep in mind that unless you hear a real confirmation, the case you know may actually be a third-party rumor, so... don't panic yet.

Don't panic, but yeah, you've been exposed if you're still in an office at this point.

It was not a rumor, it was a very specific and detailed account that resulted in employee quarantines.

The chain of influences is big enough and reaches into national government, with a confluence of interests. I'm afraid a leak to the press could be more effective than a report to the government.

I believe t will eventually come up because these things are difficult to hide as time goes by.

Re: Ask HN: Help. Covid case at work; remote work is being denied. EU region.

#23

Post by japhyr »

TYPE-ERROR wrote: post #13

I finally got my user off the shadow ban. It is a throw-away account. Thank you Daniel! I realize this is a low-signal post, but I'm still here, unable to sleep, feeling utterly disrespected as a cysec professional. A few days ago I was a valued member of the team, now upper management is using fear and intimidation to keep a semblance of normality for as long as possible: You want to go home? We won't have you back.…

> I would walk away gladly if I could do it without affecting my team and my employer.

If this is really the case, and you can survive without this job, you should consider walking. Your employer has demonstrated that they do not care about you or others on your team who are being pushed to continue showing up. And your employer, with this kind of approach, does not deserve any of your loyalty.

It's bad that some employers are still pushing people to show up for non-essential work. It's an entirely different level when people are showing up symptomatic, and still being pushed to show up.

Edit: I meant to add, that you'd probably be supporting your team by walking if you can. The more people who walk, the more clear it becomes that the employer is in an untenable position.

Re: Ask HN: Help. Covid case at work; remote work is being denied. EU region.

#24

Post by TYPE-ERROR »

pjdkoch wrote: post #4

Lose your love for 50 euros and call a lawyer. Alternatively, contact your work or health regulator, and document the case to them the best you can. Documentation and evidence is now power for you.

Are lawyers in Porto really that affordable? That is enticing. I'd love to talk this through just to have a non-actionable idea about the legality of this situation.

Re: Ask HN: Help. Covid case at work; remote work is being denied. EU region.

#25

Post by mandelbrotwurst »

cafxx wrote: post #11
gorbachev wrote: post #9

Start coughing up the hierarchy. Once you cough on someone high enough I suspect the situation will solve itself. edit: Turning this approach 180 degrees, have the employees ask the people with power to change the policy what do they think the legal liability is in the case any of the employees or any of their family members dies?

(While I think this is hilarious) I would advise against this as, by doing it intentionally, you may be breaking the law (hard to know for sure as laws differ between EU countries).

A law against spreading illness if you're actually sick seems reasonable, but against coughing to feign illness?

Re: Ask HN: Help. Covid case at work; remote work is being denied. EU region.

#26

Post by UncleEntity »

7177Y wrote: post #5

Contact your local authorities non-emergency number. This is an emergency, but not immediately actionable (you don't need a firetruck right at this moment). Discuss the situation with them and they will hopefully act accordingly. Your workplace should be quarantined and sanitized, this is a major risk to public health. Best of luck.

> Your workplace should be quarantined and sanitized, this is a major risk to public health.

Was down at "the yard" yesterday and all the supervisors were locked in their areas since some driver with a high fever wandered in and scared the hell out of them.

Went in today and they were working on sanitizing everything with bleach while all the supervisors are still locked down.

Tomorrow should be interesting...

Re: Ask HN: Help. Covid case at work; remote work is being denied. EU region.

#27

Post by sanguy »

Very common in EU unfortunately. Are you in the DACH region as it seems particularly neurotic over employees in general.

Going through the same thing and the excuses to block work from home are comical.

1) It goes against GPDR policy to allow employees to have access to such data at home.

2) How do we ensure the employees are actually working on what we need them to do?

3) How do we ensure they are putting in a full work day?

4) Why should we allow working from home to social distance without knowing if they do the same in their personal time?

Several of these are actually issues they suffer with physical workers because they micro manage and are paranoid that all employees are against management.

If they would realize that if you let good people do what you hire them for you will realize most are very loyal and focused on doing the best for the company.

Re: Ask HN: Help. Covid case at work; remote work is being denied. EU region.

#28

Post by viraptor »

TYPE-ERROR wrote: post #22
iandanforth wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't panic, but yeah, you've been exposed if you're still in an office at this point.

It was not a rumor, it was a very specific and detailed account that resulted in employee quarantines. The chain of influences is big enough and reaches into national government, with a confluence of interests. I'm afraid a leak to the press could be more effective than a report to the government. I believe t will eventually come up because these things are difficult to hide as time goes by.

> My employer will be on the spot (I'm outsourced)

You're weighing your health against your employer's profit. Are you sure you want to do that? I get that there may be an employment issue, but it's not like your career will end. Either you're irreplaceable and you'll be supported through this, or you are in a normal position and there are other similar jobs and employees around.

Re: Ask HN: Help. Covid case at work; remote work is being denied. EU region.

#29

Post by odshoifsdhfs »

a) please confirm itself with the health authorities. I have heard very credible reports as well all these last weeks

b) country is more important than EU region. Each country enacted their own rules wether you can decide for yourself to work from home is there is a possibility (Portugal for example both employee and employer can do it unilaterally)

Re: Ask HN: Help. Covid case at work; remote work is being denied. EU region.

#30

Post by senectus1 »

gorbachev wrote: post #9

Start coughing up the hierarchy. Once you cough on someone high enough I suspect the situation will solve itself. edit: Turning this approach 180 degrees, have the employees ask the people with power to change the policy what do they think the legal liability is in the case any of the employees or any of their family members dies?

whats the bet that the executive has a "chicken pox party" mentality.... Deciding to get it out of the way in the sphere of their control and making that decision for the workers on their behalf.
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