The fuel retailer PetroVietnam Oil (PV Oil ) Monday asked employees not to take up side jobs like making deliveries or driving for ride-hailing firms during the pandemic.

Those who insist on taking up side jobs with a high risk of Covid-19 transmission will have to resign first, PV Oil CEO Doan Van Nhuom said.

The warning was issued after one of its employees who was driving for a ride-hailing firm as a side job, unintentionally gave a ride to a Covid-19 patient. This meant that the employee’s colleagues had to go into quarantine as well, severely affecting their life and the company’s business, he said.

PV Oil chairman Cao Hoai Duong told VnExpress Monday that the aim of the order was to warn employees of the complicated development of the pandemic, not to dismiss them.

"PV Oil has not discharged any employee so far, and we do not owe our employees any back wages," Duong said.

He admitted that the resignation request was harsh, but defended it saying it aimed to make the employees more responsible and refrain from going out amid the pandemic. "The request was made to protect the health of PV Oil’s employees."

He added that the company's sales has plummeted by 40 percent ever since the fourth Covid-19 wave started in late April, because many localities have implemented social distancing, thus reducing the need for travel, oil and petrol.

Although it has been suffering the negative impacts of the pandemic, PV Oil was striving to sustain business operations alongside Covid-19 prevention measures, he said.