44 Lankan workers fired in Romania after 7 test positive for COVID-19

Forty-four workers from Sri Lanka employed in a clothing factory in Botoșani, northern Romania have been fired, after seven of them had tested positive for COVID-19.

The local Labour Inspectorate has been notified and started checks.The employer told labour inspectors that the Sri Lankan citizens had not come to work for fear of infection with the novel coronavirus, also claiming that after they had refused to come to work, he fired them.

Labour inspectors say that the Sri Lankan employees have the same rights as their Romanian colleagues, and checks are currently under way to see if the lay-offs had been abusive or not.

At the beginning of this year in January, a conflict started in a small community in Harghita after several Sri Lankan workers had been hired by a local bakery. (Source: Romania Journal)