Unions: Some employers do not recommend using the CoronaMelder app

Trade union CNV received dozens of reports from employees who had been advised by their employers not to use the CoronoMelder app. FNV also received such messages about advising against the app in the workplace.

According to CNV, there are mainly employers in the retail and industry who advise against the use of the CoronaMelder. The union reports this to Trouw. The employers in those sectors would be afraid that employees will receive reports and then have to be quarantined, so that they cannot be deployed for ten days. According to the trade association Ondernemend Nederland, it is mainly small companies that fear that absenteeism costs will rise and work will come to a standstill.

FNV reports that some bus drivers in regional transport and healthcare workers were asked to deactivate the CoronaMelder app. The union gives as an example transport company Qbuzz, which pointed out to employees that they could turn off Bluetooth on their smartphone to prevent them from receiving notifications. In these professions, employees are relatively often in the vicinity of potentially infected people, which means that they are more likely to receive notifications from the app.