The basic provisions of the Joint Ministerial Decision of the Ministries of Labour and Social Affairs and Health on the coronavirus self-tests in the private sector, which is being promoted for publication, were outlined by the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Kostis Hatzidakis, in the context of the briefing on Covid-19 today at the Ministry of Health.
As Mr.Hadjidakis said, «as part of the measures we are taking to protect public health, we are using self-tests to control the spread of coronavirus in the workplace.
We are therefore extending the use of this useful tool to a range of private sector activities, namely the following:
- Retail trade (including supermarkets and food and beverage outlets)
- Focus
- Transport (land, sea, air, etc.)
- Cleaning services
- Hairdressing salons, barber shops and beauty centres
- Gambling and betting services
To carry out these activities, self-tests are mandatory for employees to attend their workplaces and provide work with physical presence. They should be carried out once a week.
He said the system will work as follows:
1. The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs will send to EDIKA the Social Security Numbers of the employees employed in the above-mentioned sectors, as registered in the Information System «ERGANI».
2. Every week, the ministry will update the data of the employees, sending to EDIKA any changes, i.e. new recruitments, terminations of employment contracts, etc.
3. Employees in the activities mentioned are subject to the measure of compulsory self-tests. They obtain the tests free of charge from the pharmacy, using their social security number. If for some reason the employee chooses, instead of a self-test, to have a rapid or molecular test, at his or her own or his or her employer's expense, he or she has this option. The employee shall declare the result of the test to the P.S. «ERGANI», using the following procedure:
4. Employees will enter the online platform self-testing.gov.gr and select «Self-test result declaration for employee». They will then be redirected to the platform supportemployees.gov.gr and to «COVID-19 test result declaration» in the P.S. «ERGANI». There they will submit the test result by filling in the special form «Employee Declaration of COVID-19 result record».
5. If the result of the self-test is negative, it is understood that the employee is coming to work normally.
6. If the result of the self-test is positive, the employee will have to take a repeat test within 24 hours either in a free public facility (among those listed on the self-testing.gov.gr platform) or in a private facility of his/her choice (at his/her own or his/her employer's expense). Pending the result of the second test, the employee is quarantined at home.
7. If the result of the second repeat test is positive, a certificate is issued, which is a justification for placing the employee in quarantine, according to the protocol of the EODY.
8. If the result of the second check is negative, a certificate is issued again and the employee must return to work.
9. The result of the retest is obligatory declared in the Covid-19 test result declaration platform, by filling in the special form «Declaration of Covid-19 result recording employee, following a positive self-test result».
10. Employers are obliged to inform their employees of their obligation to self-test and the consequences of not doing so.
11. It is noted that, through the EDIKA platform, pharmacists will also be informed about which employees are beneficiaries of the self-tests.
In response to the question «what will happen if this procedure is not followed», Mr.Hadjidakis noted that the employer is not allowed to employ a worker in physical presence if he has not taken the self-test and has not declared its result. «And much more obviously, if the employee has declared a positive self-test.».
In particular, he stressed the following:
«- If the employee comes to work without having declared the result of the self-test, the employer is obliged not to accept the provision of the work and is exempted from the obligation to pay wages until the employee complies with his obligations.
- If the employer fails to comply with the obligation to inform its employees by any appropriate means (e-mail, email, notice, etc.) about the mandatory self-tests, the SEPE will impose a fine of 300 euros.
- If an audit by the SEPE finds an employer who employs an employee who has not declared a self-test result, a fine of 500 euros per employee is imposed.
- If an employer is found to employ a worker with a positive self-test (either in the first or in the repeat test), a fine of €1,500 per worker is imposed.».
Finally, Mr.Hadjidakis stressed that, because the free distribution of self-tests from pharmacies starts on Monday 19 April, for the first week of implementation of the measure, declarations of test results can be made at any time from Monday 19 April until Sunday 25 April.
