Labor measures of the Court System against the new coronavirus

The Cuban Court System has been consistent with the measures guided by the highest authorities in the country for the prevention and control of COVID-19. We offer the statements of the head of the Independent Department of Labor Force of the Supreme People's Court (TSP), Karelia Martínez Rondón, about how the indications of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security (MTSS) are applied regarding labor and salary treatment for workers in the current epidemiological situation.

What is the labor and salary treatment for court workers who use the modalities of telework and remote work and for those who have a respiratory condition or are isolated?

The Court System immediately implemented, by virtue of the indication made by the country's presidency, the Plan for the prevention and control of the new coronavirus, which was reinforced with a circular Letter issued by the president of the TSP, Rubén Remigio Ferro, on 23 March 2020. In this sense, our system has a large number of workers covered by the remote work modality, which is the one that is being applied the most taking into account the type of work carried out, mainly by judges and magistrates. According to what is indicated by the MTSS, they are paid 100% of the salary and the food stipend.

Workers with a respiratory condition are initially issued an administrative authorization in order to receive medical attention, then a document is presented stating the diagnosis with the doctor's recommendation to isolate or comply with another decision. This has been done and it has worked.

Regarding the condition of interruption for a worker, I must clarify that this must be granted by the management of the courts, once the situation has been assessed and analyzed and after the impossibility of remote work or relocation has been decided. These workers are granted the treatment established in the Labor Code and indicated by the MTSS, that is, they are paid in the first month 100% of their salary, and from the following, 60%.

What measures are adopted with those who present risk factors?

The Independent Department of the Labor Force, together with the TSP's Security and Protection Directorate and with the participation of the members of the Temporary Work Group, carried out a survey of the people who are part of the vulnerable workers, say the elderly sixty years, those with hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, pregnant or immunosuppressed. The possibility of remote work was pointed out with them, and today most of them have availed themselves of this modality.

What relationships have been established with the Primary Health Care of the territory where the headquarters of the Supreme People's Court is located?

The investigation is carried out daily in all the areas of the TSP by the people of the Temporary Work Group in charge of this monitoring, and those who are detected are sent to the health center that exists in the demarcation, which is the Tomás Romay polyclinic, with which we have a collaboration agreement, prior to this epidemic, which has been efficiently fulfilled in this situation.

Unfortunately, there are still people who do not understand the need for sanitary measures, what do you recommend?

I recommend that they raise awareness of the situation in which the country is living, so we must daily ensure our health, our family and thus contribute to the well-being of the institution, society and the country. We insist on the fulfillment of our Prevention and Control Plan and the daily evaluation of the measures adopted to stop and overcome this epidemic.