No additional support for staff with long covid

No additional support for staff with long covid

The government does not feel called upon to provide extra support to teaching staff at risk of becoming unfit for work due to long-term covid complaints. Employers and unions will have to make a joint arrangement for this.

In January, 1,700 education employees with long covid had reported to the trade unions AOb and the FNV. They had to work when most Dutch people still worked from home and were not given priority for vaccinations. Some of them have since been laid off after two years of illness, leading to a big drop in income. Education unions and school leaders therefore want the cabinet to arrange retroactive collective disability insurance for education.

But the cabinet feels the moral obligation to provide extra support only for care staff with lung covid complaints, who often worked unprotected during the first corona wave. Education ministers Dijkgraaf and Wiersma understand the unions’ request, but argue that for additional support, they should make agreements with employers. (HOP, HC)