DH works driving HGVs.
Recently, he's fallen ill with a chest infection type illness with a spiking temperature and was caught up in the PCR fuckup so was was alarmed to hear that his negative might not have been a negative. He had Covid in the first wave, and is scared to get it again as he's asthmatic. He told work, who had been bastards about him being ill anyway, "bantering" about him drinking lemsip and using his inhalers, and the boss made him think his job was in jeopardy if he took time off for illness, so he had been working through it. He came home on his break and I helped him take a lateral flow and it had a line. Not glaringly bright but clearly there. He told work as soon as he got back to the yard, where he had to go to return the work vehicle. They marched him to the office and made him take multiple lateral flow tests, saying it was company policy. He said he didn't want to take them, he'd already taken one and he didn't know what taking four at once would show, even if they were all negative, he had one positive and had been asked to retake his PCR, he has symptoms, he needs to go home! And, reason I have to help him take them is because he's got such a sensitive gag reflex that he panics doing it himself and that can set off an asthma attack.
Why make him take multiple?? Three were positive, one was negative. They held up the negative and called him a bullshitter, because he's already had Covid and you can't get it again. DH said "sorry, but I'm already feeling ill and one negative test doesn't count out the four positives I've had today. I need to go home, take a PCR and you all should probably take one as well."
They refused to let him go home and told him if he did, he'd lose his job! We have three kids to support. DH reluctantly drove for the rest of the day and then came home. He looked awful, he had a fever again and he emailed in to work (their preferred method) and said he would not come in the next day, he needed to take a PCR and he felt too ill to be behind the wheel of a huge vehicle.
They went mental. Messaging his personal phone, telling him he's expected in regardless, that they'll instigate a disciplinary if he doesn't, etc. Probably because they couldn't get another driver on short notice.
DH responded by handing in his notice, saying he wasn't working for people who treat their staff this way. He's an HGV driver, so can quite obviously get another job pretty fast. They've left a voicemail calling him spiteful and unprofessional and saying they won't give him a reference, he was incredibly unreasonable to quit and if he has a problem he should go down the grievance route.
Was he BU? Because I don't bloody think so! But maybe it's because I'm too annoyed on his behalf.