‘Can’t absorb more costs’: Small businesses say government should fund RATs | domp
Small business owners say they will not be able to absorb the cost of providing rapid antigen tests to potentially COVID-exposed employees and are calling on the federal government to subsidise the tests.once supply issues for RATs are ironed out, it should be the responsibility of employers to provide free tests to employees who cannot work from home. The peak union body warned union members would cease work on sites where employers were not fulfilling these obligations.
“To me, it’s not up to business. We need a controlled and systematic approach from the government rather than this scattergun approach that hasn’t been thought about and has left us so far behind the eight-ball.” Currently, workers in essential industries such as food supply can continue to work even when deemed a close contact of someone with COVID provided they test negative on RATs before each shift.
Similarly, a spokesperson for Telstra said the business had also had some “initial challenges” finding RATs, the company currently had enough for workers in its critical divisions such as its triple zero call centre.
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