Disloyal worker fired “for health reasons”
Brest regional authorities have made use of a new method of labor discrimination of disloyal workers: locksmith Siarhei Ivanou has been fired “for health reasons” from Brest Chief Specialized Bureau of Complex Climate Equipment Design.
Siarhei Ivanou was famous for fighting for safe working conditions, which,
in his opinion, was the actual reason for the dismissal. The
chief engineer of the company, according to Ivanou told him: "Leave
yourself. If you do
not go away, we’ll sack you for an offence. I know how to do it, believe me." They
initially wanted to dismiss him for absenteeism, and when they did not succeed,
just stopped letting him inside the enterprise. Then
he was asked to undergo a medical examination under paragraph 5.1 of the
Ministry of Health’s decree (lifting and pulling of loads). However, this option
does not apply to locksmiths, but to movers.
As
a result, Ivanou was fired just for health reasons. Human
rights defender Uladzimir Malei says this is not the first dismissal of this
kind in Brest
region, when a person does not work on a contract, but on an indefinite employment
agreement. According
to the human rights defender, the employer’s actions show that Ivanou is forced
out of the staff, left with no means of support. No
one else except Ivanou was offered to undergo an additional medical examination
under paragraph 5.1. Ivanou
was then offered the position of an archivist (he has a university degree), and
when he agreed, they said "no" - again because of his health
condition.
Chief
manager of the enterprise Mickhail Shomin does not deny the fact of Ivanou’s
arbitrary dismissal, but said that it was the court that was to decide, where
the worker filed a claim for reinstatement.