Your employer comes in to work showing signs of having the virus...

Forum_Name

After a talk with my wife and being told by her to just walk out in such a situation, i wanted to chat with others on here because not only am i worried about getting this virus but i'm also worried about losing my job.

I've been in touch with some coworkers. We have a group chat and someone asked the question do you think the boss (as in the owner of the company) would still come in to work if they started showing signs of having the virus. Everyone in the chat, 7 people said yes. I've worked there for the second longest at 29 years and the boss has said to me before in a rant about people taking time off work that they will never take time off work because it gives other people an excuse to and makes them think it's ok. True to this persons word, not once in 29 years have i ever known them take a single day off work and they have come in in some really horrible looking states before. 

Our company has inside and outside work and this boss throughout the day will pass through all departments and will have close dealings with my department. I've been told by the ones who have worked throughout that this boss has shown no regard for any guidelines since the lockdown. No distancing, no wiping down of machinery before or after using. The boss will just get on the machinery no matter who was on it before, use it and then just walk off. Ok the next person should wipe it down fully before they use it but still, i'm just trying to explain that this person simply doesn't care. They could probably afford to close down for a while as the owners are multi-millionaires. I don't want to argue that as i said probably, not certainly. Maybe with all their millions they still couldn't afford to close, who knows.

So they come in and let's for arguments sake say they're clearly showing signs of the virus and they're just being stubborn going about their day. As i said earlier, i don't want to get it nor do i want to be jobless. What do you do? 
Yes this is a genuine question. I'm just worried about both outcomes. 

theoretica

Do the police in your area have a way to report people breaking lockdown? 

nicechap

Forum_Name said:

After a talk with my wife and being told by her to just walk out in such a situation, i wanted to chat with others on here because not only am i worried about getting this virus but i'm also worried about losing my job.

I've been in touch with some coworkers. We have a group chat and someone asked the question do you think the boss (as in the owner of the company) would still come in to work if they started showing signs of having the virus. Everyone in the chat, 7 people said yes. I've worked there for the second longest at 29 years and the boss has said to me before in a rant about people taking time off work that they will never take time off work because it gives other people an excuse to and makes them think it's ok. True to this persons word, not once in 29 years have i ever known them take a single day off work and they have come in in some really horrible looking states before. 

Our company has inside and outside work and this boss throughout the day will pass through all departments and will have close dealings with my department. I've been told by the ones who have worked throughout that this boss has shown no regard for any guidelines since the lockdown. No distancing, no wiping down of machinery before or after using. The boss will just get on the machinery no matter who was on it before, use it and then just walk off. Ok the next person should wipe it down fully before they use it but still, i'm just trying to explain that this person simply doesn't care. They could probably afford to close down for a while as the owners are multi-millionaires. I don't want to argue that as i said probably, not certainly. Maybe with all their millions they still couldn't afford to close, who knows.

So they come in and let's for arguments sake say they're clearly showing signs of the virus and they're just being stubborn going about their day. As i said earlier, i don't want to get it nor do i want to be jobless. What do you do? 
Yes this is a genuine question. I'm just worried about both outcomes. 

I would leave the group chat - discussing what your boss may or may not do, and the language used could be a disciplinary matter if the boss discovered what was said and by whom.
 

Forum_Name

theoretica said:

Do the police in your area have a way to report people breaking lockdown? 

I'm not sure to be honest. Wouldn't know how to go about it. I imagine not dialling 999 but would that really be the step to take?

nicechap said:

I would leave the group chat - discussing what your boss may or may not do, and the language used could be a disciplinary matter if the boss discovered what was said and by whom.
 

Yeah you're probably right but it's been said now. Highly unlikely any of them will mention anything said.
So while we're talking about things that are highly unlikely: it's highly unlikely the boss will take time off if they start feeling or showing symptoms. So a response to that instead if you don't mind?

nicechap

Forum_Name said:

theoretica said:

Do the police in your area have a way to report people breaking lockdown? 

I'm not sure to be honest. Wouldn't know how to go about it. I imagine not dialling 999 but would that really be the step to take?

nicechap said:

I would leave the group chat - discussing what your boss may or may not do, and the language used could be a disciplinary matter if the boss discovered what was said and by whom.
 

Yeah you're probably right but it's been said now. Highly unlikely any of them will mention anything said.
So while we're talking about things that are highly unlikely: it's highly unlikely the boss will take time off if they start feeling or showing symptoms. So a response to that instead if you don't mind?

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/housing-officer-sacked-after-creating-whatsapp-group-to-criticise-colleague-has-dismissal-upheld-a4266636.html

As you're employed, I presume you are an adult and can make your own decisions given the information you have and we don't.  The scenario you paint wouldn't happen where I work.  However, as 50% of infected Covid19 are asymptomatic, and it is infectious BEFORE symptoms show, so its your perception of risk and what mitigation you can choose that counts.

Personally, I wouldn't go in to work and say to my boss, but people on the internet think you should go home.  Walking out rarely ends well.

Forum_Name

So you're saying that you would have the attitude of, well the boss has been infectious now for a few days so i may as well just carry on here until i start showing symptoms?

You'll have to forgive me if that isn't what you're saying but since you don't appear to want to talk straight i'm having to try and read between the lines which increases my chances of misunderstanding whatever you're trying to say.

nicechap

Forum_Name said:

So you're saying that you would have the attitude of, well the boss has been infectious now for a few days so i may as well just carry on here until i start showing symptoms?

You'll have to forgive me if that isn't what you're saying but since you don't appear to want to talk straight i'm having to try and read between the lines which increases my chances of misunderstanding whatever you're trying to say.

What I do is irrelevant to what you do.  You are an adult, make your own decisions.

You claim to be worried about what to do if the boss comes in coughing etc, yet ignore that by then, you may already be, infected.  What does the government advise in those circumstances?

happyandcontented

I don't think that there is necessarily a link between them never having been off sick previously and them taking time off for this virus. Personally, I think that if you feel you have to work then it is probably best not to dwell on something you have no control over,

Comms69

Forum_Name said:

After a talk with my wife and being told by her to just walk out in such a situation, i wanted to chat with others on here because not only am i worried about getting this virus but i'm also worried about losing my job.

I've been in touch with some coworkers. We have a group chat and someone asked the question do you think the boss (as in the owner of the company) would still come in to work if they started showing signs of having the virus. Everyone in the chat, 7 people said yes. I've worked there for the second longest at 29 years and the boss has said to me before in a rant about people taking time off work that they will never take time off work because it gives other people an excuse to and makes them think it's ok. True to this persons word, not once in 29 years have i ever known them take a single day off work and they have come in in some really horrible looking states before. 

Our company has inside and outside work and this boss throughout the day will pass through all departments and will have close dealings with my department. I've been told by the ones who have worked throughout that this boss has shown no regard for any guidelines since the lockdown. No distancing, no wiping down of machinery before or after using. The boss will just get on the machinery no matter who was on it before, use it and then just walk off. Ok the next person should wipe it down fully before they use it but still, i'm just trying to explain that this person simply doesn't care. They could probably afford to close down for a while as the owners are multi-millionaires. I don't want to argue that as i said probably, not certainly. Maybe with all their millions they still couldn't afford to close, who knows.

So they come in and let's for arguments sake say they're clearly showing signs of the virus and they're just being stubborn going about their day. As i said earlier, i don't want to get it nor do i want to be jobless. What do you do? 
Yes this is a genuine question. I'm just worried about both outcomes. 

You report it to the police. 999 is technically appropriate as a potential offence is occuring. The police can require him to return home, or to a suitable facility.

Marvel1

I would think the police as I could be wrong but judging the stats on people dying from it (less than people having it and survived but still) to me it's  attempted murder!

Comms69

Marvel1 said:

I would think the police as I could be wrong but judging the stats on people dying from it (less than people having it and survived but still) to me it's  attempted murder!

It's being treated as GBH for people who deliberately cough upon emergency workers, so i think that's a stretch