An employee of Paphos municipality will see their salary cut following the intervention of the local mayor, who was suspicious of a medical certificate that stated the employee belonged to a vulnerable group and should stay at home.
A private doctor is required to pay the salary of a worker of the municipality who allegedly classified him by “accident” in Category B of vulnerable persons, a municipal announcement said on Tuesday.
At the end of April, the health ministry released a detailed list of those considered vulnerable and must practice extreme caution when going back to work, if at all.
People belonging to the first group (A) were permitted go to work as long as they are not in an environment with many people and do not come into contact with the public.
The second group (B) are considered to be at a very high risk and it is recommended that they only work from home.
“By directive of the mayor, the part of the employee’s salary relating to the period from April 30 up to today will not be paid, and will be claimed for the benefit of the employee by the doctor himself or by the insurance of his professional liability, due to possible intentional negligence and/or failure to show due professional responsibility on the part of the doctor,” said the municipality.
On April 30, the day after the Ministry of Health issued a notice stating the discrimination of citizens with risk factors for serious covid-19 disease in Categories A and B, an employee of the municipality provided a medical certificate from a private doctor. The certificate confirmed that the employee suffers from a chronic condition with which he was classified as a vulnerable group Category B.
On May 4, the same doctor issued the employee a sick leave certificate for the period May 1-31, 2020 with a diagnosis that again placed the employee in a vulnerable Category B group, recommending they remain at home.
However, when approached by the municipality the doctor sent a new certificate stating that the worker concerned belongs to the vulnerable Category A group.
The municipality said the doctor indicated he inadvertently gave a certificate that the employee belongs to category B.
