AS THE country nears the end of the three-week lockdown period concerns are still being raised that social distancing measure are not being adhered to.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed that there is “no likelihood of lockdown measures being lifted over the Easter weekend” and that safety regulations will stay in place for some time yet.

While she urges Scots to continue to follow lockdown procedures we have still been receiving concerns that some businesses are STILL not obeying the rules.

Glasgow Times: John Lewis figures

John Lewis in Glasgow has been accused of forcing staff to work in Waitrose during the pandemic.

Our source who has been working with the company for 21 years said that employees had to clean the premises before it closed but social distancing rules were not strictly followed.

They said: “Since this all started my anxiety had gone through the roof. We were told to go work for Waitrose even though some of us are on furlough.

“We were also asked to explain why we wanted to go on furlough. I feel sorry for the people in Waitrose having to deal with this.

“I haven’t gone to work there because I have vulnerable members of my family living with me and I feel really unsafe going to work.

“We were the last shop in Buchanan Galleries to close and we had to clean it before it closed. During this not everyone was adhering to the social distancing rules.”

John Lewis has been asked for comment.

Glasgow Times:

  A SELF-EMPLOYED agency worker at Bae Systems in Govan claims that he is not getting paid because the company yard is closed due to Coronavirus.

He claims that he was unable to qualify for the government’s self-employed scheme and is not being paid while the crisis continues.

He said: “They now expect us to stay home on no pay waiting on a weekly update to see when we can go back to work.

“A company the size of Bae Systems you would think they would follow other large company’s examples and at least pay us a basic weeks wage if they are expecting us to return to site.”

  BAE Systems said the health and wellbeing of their people is our top priority and, in line with the latest Government guidance, our UK based employees and agency workers are working from home where possible.

A spokesman said: “We are in regular contact with our agencies and suppliers during this period. Working closely with our customers, we’ve agreed initial priorities regarding the programmes and roles which remain essential to be delivered at our sites in support of national defence and security and we will seek to return to work as many employees and agency workers as we safely can over the coming weeks.

“We’re thankful for the continued support and co-operation of our employees and agency workers during this period of unprecedented challenge and uncertainty, as we all play our part in tackling this public health emergency.”

Glasgow Times:

  A JOINER at Glasgow University claims that he has been told he needs to carry out maintenance work around the campus.

He is concerned because some of the work being carried out is a two-person job and he is having to travel to work by bus every day.

Our source said: “I have been asked to carry out maintenance jobs around the university, which is not classes ass essential work.

“I am concerned about my families welfare. Because I am working around the campus it means I can be working in four or five different buildings in the one day.

“Within the next couple of weeks I have been told I only need to resond to an emergency call out and won’t need to come in day after day.

“I am scared I will pick up the virus and without testing you don’t know if it is a cold or Covid-19. This is a very worrying time.”

The University of Glasgow has said it is not aware of the situation but is happy to address staff concerns if need be.

A spokesperson said: “We currently have only two joiners on standby which means they are based at home and only called in on rare occasions to carry out essential, reactive repairs.

“One is attached to our Garscube campus and the other to our main campus.

“We therefore do not recognise the scenario put to us – that a joiner is being asked to do routine maintenance work and being required to take public transport on a daily basis.

“We are not aware of anyone in this situation but are always more than happy to address any staff concerns, particularly now as we all face the COVID-19 crisis which we recognise requires strict adherence to public health regulation.”