Cautious employees at the Ministry of Planning and Development HR Department have indicated to the Public Services Association (PSA) that after management got news of a suspected primary contact for Covid-19; no measures were taken to ensure workers’ safety thereafter.

PSA members employed at the Ministry stated that non-essential staff was unnecessarily exposed to the Covid-19 virus, as they were rostered to work eight-hour shifts, three days for the week, with barely any work to do.

One source said: “ What terms are we coming to work on if there is hardly any work to complete?”

Members stated that working was not the issue. However, working the full eight-hour shift during this time was unnecessarily exposing staff. Workers asked that their work hours be more flexible, where, they complete their daily tasks and are allowed to leave, rather than completing their tasks and having to sit idly till 4 pm in their workspaces.

Employees said that working during these times was risky and should be mitigated at all costs if it could.