It’s a serious concern that reports of ASU members losing income or being forced to use their own leave because of workplace exposure to COVID-19 are increasing.
Tier 1 contacts of a COVID-positive person at work have told that during the quarantine period, they will only be paid at their base rate without the shift penalties that they rely on. And other ASU members have been told they must use their own annual leave or sick leave to quarantine.
The result is workers losing income or not having access to leave when they need it for reasons not related to their work.
One ASU member who works in youth residential care told us, “We’ve worked our asses off through the pandemic looking after some of the most vulnerable people in the state, and we’re exposed to COVID at work we get treated as if we don’t matter”.
And a member of our union who works in mental health reported to an ASU organiser that after exposure to COVID-19, their boss ‘graciously’ (irony intended) gave them just 1 hour’s pay to cover the period of testing and isolation.
It’s not good enough that workers are being treated like this.
The ASU is by your side, so we’ve taken the fight to the state government – pushing hard for a COVID-19 leave pool so workers neglected by their employer aren’t left out of pocket or out of personal leave.
We’re continuing to fight for workplace justice through our Essential Not Expendable Campaign.
Get involved with the Essential not Expendable campaign here.
