The Administrative and Recruitment Affairs Organization of Iran has issued a directive on how managers should discipline employees who refuse to comply with health and safety guidelines related to Covid-19 in workplaces.
As per the directive, civil servants’ failure to wear mask and observe social distancing in government offices and their extension of services to clients not wearing a mask or observing social distancing constitute an administrative offense and are subject to fines, Mehr News Agency reported.
Managers are required to take the following steps in dealing with employees who do not adhere to the health protocols:
A written warning will be issued to employees for their first violation of ignoring the facemask and social distancing mandate. If it is repeated, the employee will receive a written warning and the misconduct will be cited in the employee’s file. The employee will receive a one-third cut in salary or benefits for one month on their third violation of the rule.
If the same violation is repeated again, the one-third reduction of salary and benefits will be levied for three months. The fifth violation of health protocols will be met with layoff from work for three months.
Last month, President Hassan Rouhani ordered his health and interior ministries to put forward recommendations on how to penalize violators of health protocols, subject to their approval by the National Coronavirus Taskforce.
“There is no doubt that we need to take action against violators of health measures,” he said.
According to the president, government offices must dismiss, for one working day, employees who disregard protective measures, and they must also refuse to offer services to individuals not wearing facemasks.
“Until the day the Health Ministry announces the availability of a vaccine, we need to observe the rules and continue to enforce strict measures,” he said.
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei also gave the coronavirus taskforce, headed by Rouhani, full authority for combating the viral outbreak.
