The Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN) has instituted disciplinary proceedings against 11 employees who stayed away from work over fears of contracting COVID-19. The basis of the charges was due to their union’s breach of its agreement with CRAN in that “they issued directives to the employees to absent themselves from work on 11 May 2020 without consulting and or obtaining permission in this regard from the chief executive officer.” The employees said they stayed away from work after one of their colleagues tested positive for the novel coronavirus as CRAN had allegedly not put in place measures to protect them against the virus. They alleged that seven employees have contracted the virus, of which six are confirmed contacts of the first confirmed case at the company. This was dismissed by CRAN’s chief executive officer, Jochen Traut who said only three of the confirmed cases were contacts of the company’s first case. “The other three of the seven confirmed cases did not contract COVID-19 in the workplace,” he said. Further, Traut dismissed assertions that the company does not take the pandemic with the seriousness it warrants. “With every confirmed case, CRAN proactively and consistently put in place various measures to safeguard employees at work as we are a responsible Namibian corporate and in our quest to curb the further spread of this disease,” he said. This includes installing hand washing stations and making masks available, Vitamin B injections and flu shots to staff. CRAN has also arranged the services of a psychologist to provide counselling sessions (at company cost) to employees who may have experienced anxiety due to the COVID-19 pandemic. CRAN, in addition, provided communications tools and mobile data to ensure that colleagues could efficiently work from home during the lockdown period, he said. “No employee was persecuted and the process was managed in compliance with the provisions of CRAN’s Disciplinary Policy and the Labour Act. The primary purpose is to afford employees an opportunity to prove that their absence from work was authorised,” Traut said. A representative of the Namibia Public Workers Union at CRAN, Stanley Kavetu confirmed that the disciplinary process is underway but denied any wrongdoing on the part of employees. “The employees have however acquired the legal services of their colleagues in the legal department,” Kavetu said on Monday. (NAMPA)