Employers in Canberra are being hit hard by the enforced isolation of staff for seven days if they have COVID symptoms. Many want the stay-home duration cut to five days.
"Seven days is a lot," Bing Zhang, owner of the Kagawa Japanese Cuisine restaurant in Dickson, said. "We are already short of staff and if one person in the kitchen has symptoms, and all the other people have to be tested as well, that means I don't have anyone to work in the kitchen."
It was a common view among owners and managers in the hub of restaurants on and around Woolley Street in Dickson.
Sukhdeep Kaur who runs the Taj Agra near the Japanese restaurant accepted the seven days might be needed for an employee to recover but still felt that the cost to the business of a seven day absence was great. "It's very hard," she said.
State and territory leaders meet at national cabinet on Wednesday, with a cut to the mandatory isolation period from seven days to five on the agenda. ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr has indicated he is cautious about such a cut.
And while business owners The Canberra Times talked to often wanted a cut in the isolation period, employees weren't keen on it. A burden on business is also a protection for employees of business.
"When I had COVID, I just felt so drained, and I needed seven days. I got really sick," Ashleigh Parker, a bar tender at the Dickson Taphouse, said.
The pub is one of a chain of three and when staff have to be isolated at home, they switch staff around to keep the service going.
Businesses now face a complex array of problems. There is the immediate problem of staff suddenly calling in sick but there is also a longer term one of a shortage of staff, even as the pandemic wanes, according to Andrew Cox who runs the High Road cafe.
"If one person goes sick, that's a big burden on the rest. You have to be very versatile and you have to adapt quickly. We have a really beautiful large venue here but we have to run it at half capacity," he said.
"We are bleeding out across the board - nobody wants to work in hospitality because they are worried about getting sick," he said.
The Canberra Business Chamber echoed the unease about the seven-day absence of staff. "Absenteeism has been having a very real impact," the chamber's chief executive, Graham Catt, said.
"It's partly due to illness but it's also due to isolation requirements and not just of those working but of their families." He didn't go as far as to say that the isolation period should be reduced to five days but he wants a hard look at alternatives to the seven day compulsory isolation.
He said that owners of businesses were being overworked because of staff shortages. "We are seeing business owners having to work incredibly long hours to cover for people who are off." He was worried about the mental pressure on bosses.
Some restaurants had been forced to shut their doors when staff have to isolate with COVID, according to Bing Zhang. "Some restaurants have closed for a week because there's no-one working in the kitchen. That's really a problem," she said.
"I got COVID and the symptoms had gone after four or five days and that's a fair time. Seven days is too long," she felt.
The pandemic has had a silver lining for some, though. The Dickson Liquor Store rethought its business model. "During the lockdown, we established on online website," manager Liam Xue said.
They have expanded their market to encompass the whole of Australia. But the business is not labor-intensive. There are two staff at the bottle-shop. If one gets sick, the other shoulders the burden.
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