What to Do if a Worker Is Faking Their COVID Test Result

Some dishonest employees are falsifying their Covid-19 test results to avoid working. Several groups are asking for more improvement of the MySejahtera application to check for such abuse. 

There are also videos going viral on social media platforms on how to manipulate the Covid-19 saliva test kit to give false-positive results.

Meanwhile, the Labour Department and Health Ministry authorities said they had not received any complaints about workers faking their Covid-19 results. 

 

Abuse of Covid-19 reporting system

However, some employers thought that the possibility for abuse exists with the current Covid-19 reporting system as users do not require medical certificates from a physician.

Datuk Dr Syed Hussain Syed Husman, Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) president, said that he believed that there is an abuse of the Covid-19 self-report system, hence it is very crucial for employers to warn their workers of the consequences if they were caught faking Covid-19 test results.

He stated that employers should manage the abuse under the company's disciplinary action. He said they should impose stern action on the abuser as such abuse will endanger company operations and mislead the authorities managing the pandemic. 

 

Not a widespread problem?

Ding Hong Sing, SME Association of Malaysia president, said there had been cases of workers faking their Covid-19 results, but it is not widespread. 

He said that many employers would ask the positive Covid-19 patients to take another test either via the company or a clinic to confirm the results. According to him, the employers would only allow the employees to take medical leave after verifying the test results. 

Ding also said that there is a need for strict procedures to combat this issue, since there is a possibility that an employee could use another person's test results to replace their own results.

 

Preventive measures needed

Tan Sri Soh Thian Lai, Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) president, said that there had been no such cases reported among its members. He stated that since there is no system to prevent employees' dishonest practices, there is a concern that the false claims may increase eventually. 

He said that there is a need for a further tightening of the Covid-19 infection incident reporting, especially information that is not updated by authorised personnel. As of now, what appears in the MySejahtera application is the update after the declaration of the infected individual.

He explained that the problem is subsequent events such as the need to self-quarantine, which requires the employees' honesty in reporting. 

He added that since MySejahtera does not cater to verification of information except for an image of the Covid-19 test to be uploaded based on the RTK-Ag self-test kit, anyone could act dishonestly and claim for hospitalisation leave. 

Employers are wary of dishonest employees exploiting the current SOP to escape work.

Soh said the MySejahtera app must be further improved to include a feature where a medical practitioner could remotely verify the health status of the employee claiming to be unable to report for work and requiring home quarantine. 

He added that FMM would continue to engage the government and relevant parties to improve the MySejahtera app functions to handle the misuse of the standard operating procedure (SOP) during the pandemic. 

He advised FMM's members to be more careful of this potential employee relations problem of false reporting and manage delinquent workers based on the company's disciplinary process. 

He said that employers who believe their workers are using such tactics should investigate and take the necessary disciplinary steps.

 

Source: The Star