17 minute read | March.18.2020
| Preemptive Action · Health Screening: Preemptive temperature checks and health screenings may raise privacy concerns. · Travel/Contacts: Employers may solicit travel history from staff members and direct those who have traveled to COVID-19 outbreak areas to stay home pending medical clearance. |
Employer’s Duty to Report COVID-19 Positive Employee · No duty to report suspected case of COVID-19 in workplace but if there is workplace exposure, recommended to contact · Department of Health COVID-19 Health Information Line +61 1800 020 080 AND · the Local State Health & Safety department |
Good to Know · As of 16 March, the government has advised against “static, non-essential” mass gatherings of 500 people or more and will strictly enforce the requirement to self-isolate upon return from abroad. · Department of Health Guidelines recommend employers provide COVID-19 training to prevent the spread of the disease. · Consult with staff to receive input before implementing any COVID-related preventative measures or workplace changes to the workplace or adopt. · If measures are too aggressive against those exhibiting upper respiratory infections it may raise issue of disability discrimination. |
| Preemptive Action · Health Screening: Preemptive temperature checks and health screenings may raise privacy concerns. · Travel/Contacts: Employers may solicit travel history from staff members and direct those who have traveled to COVID-19 outbreak areas to stay home pending medical clearance. · Other Measures: Employers must reach an agreement regarding protective measures with the applicable Works Council. |
Employer’s Duty to Report COVID-19 Positive Employee · No duty to report. |
Good to Know · Lockdown: As of 16 March, Austrians may not leave their homes except for urgently necessary professional activities purchasing groceries or medications, assisting others or taking walks alone or without household members. *** · Employers are encouraged to educate employees about minimizing risk and consulting with occupation doctors. · If an employee is diagnosed with the COVID-19 or there is a concrete suspicion of infection, the employee may not continue to go to work and will be quarantined by the district administrative authority of the Department of Health (“Gesundheitsamt”). |
| Preemptive Action · Travel / Contact: If an employee has returned from a high-risk area but has not been diagnosed, employers can suggest but not require that the employee stay home. |
Employer’s Duty to Report COVID-19 Positive Employee · No express duty to report suspected case of COVID-19 in the workplace. However, there may be an implied duty under the general duty of care to advise known close contacts. |
Good to Know · Restrictions: Belgians are requested to work from home if possible; elderly people are advised to stay home; schools, restaurants and bars are closed. |
| Preemptive Action · Travel / Contact: If an employee has returned from a high-risk area but has not been diagnosed, employers can suggest but not require that the employee stay home. |
Employer’s Duty to Report COVID-19 Positive Employee · No express duty to report suspected cases. However, there may be an implied duty under the general duty of care to notify close contacts. |
Good to Know · Restrictions: Restrictions have been adopted at provincial level to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 with a state of emergency declared in Ontario. |
| Preemptive Action · Health Screenings: Landlords have been mandating 2x daily temperature checks and denying entry to anyone who has a fever or shows signs of respiratory illness. Companies are advised to replicate these efforts. · Travel / Contact: Companies are collecting travel information to identify individuals who may have traveled from COVID-19 hotspots – though Wuhan remains on lock down and individuals from the province of Hubei (other than Wuhan), who are discouraged from traveling, are not permitted into Beijing. |
Employer’s Duty to Report COVID-19 Positive Employee · No duty to report suspected cases. · Duty to report may be imposed by government officials as a condition of re-opening. |
Good to Know · Reopening has been underway for several weeks. COVID-19 requirements are all local. If a business location has been closed, the ability to reopen will depend on meeting the requirements of the local authorities. · On 17 March, China reported only one newly diagnosed COVID-19 case. |
| Preemptive Action · While Denmark has imposed no statutory obligation on employers, it is recommended that companies update their employees, travelers and expatriates on relevant COVID-19 development and the recommendations of the Danish Health Authority and provide them with relevant contact information in case they have or suspect to have contracted the infectious disease. |
Employer’s Duty to Report COVID-19 Positive Employee · No duty to report. |
Good to Know · Restrictions: As of 14 March, Denmark closed its borders to non-citizens/non-residents. Employers are strongly encouraged to ensure that as many of employees as possible work from home or take leave or vacation. Schools are closed. |
| Preemptive Action · Employers must comply with Finland’s laws regarding employees’ health in the workplace that impose a general duty to provide a safe workplace. Thus, if there is a visitor or employee diagnosed with COVID-19, employers must ensure safe working conditions by “adequate means,” though no specific means are required. |
Employer’s Duty to Report COVID-19 Positive Employee · No duty to report. · Employer may notify close contacts on an anonymous basis but are advised to gain consent of impacted employee due to privacy concerns. |
Good to Know · Restrictions: As of 16 March, there are restrictions on crowds of greater than 10 people, schools, cultural institutions and other public facilities are closed (including theatres, libraries, and pools). |
| Preemptive Action · Travel/Contacts: Employers have an obligation to maintain the health and safety of their workforce. · If a staff member advises that he or she has been diagnosed with the COVID-19, employers should ask the employee not to come to the workplace to protect the other employees and avoid the spread of the virus and place the employee on sick leave. · Similarly, if an employee believes he/she may have been exposed to the COVID-19, employers can (i) ask the employee not to come to work while paying him/her; (ii) ask the employee to take time off, (iii) offer an adaptation of his or her workstation to avoid contacts with vulnerable persons or (iv) require that the employee to telework if feasible. Employers must direct the employee to the French government’s website for managing the disease: https://solidarites-sante.gouv.fr/ · Hygiene: If an employee with a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis has come to the workplace, employers must disinfect the workplace and provide any employee charged with the cleaning task proper equipment to do so (e.g., single use gowns and gloves). |
Employer’s Duty to Report COVID-19 Positive Employee · No duty to report and should not do so without the individual’s consent due to privacy concerns. · Employers generally must inform and consult its SEC (Social and Economic Committee) if there is modification of workplace due to the COVID-19. |
Good to Know · Restrictions: As of 17 March, the French have been ordered to stay home except for limited permissible reasons (to get medical care, buy groceries/medicines or to travel to work). *** · Employers are advised to dialogue with their occupational doctor and health and safety committee in order to be fully informed and to ensure proper adoption of appropriate safety guidelines. · Employees who believe that their job presents a serious and imminent danger to their health have the right, after reporting the risk to their employer, to step back from their job. This right is called the “droit de retrait” (“right to withdraw”). Note that the employee’s ability to lawfully exercise this “droit de retrait” is actually limited to serious risks. |
| Preemptive Action · Preemptive measures should be taken in the context of an employer’s regular workplace health & safety procedures. |
Employer’s Duty to Report COVID-19 Positive Employee · Generally, the reporting obligation of a positive COVID-19 lies with the doctors/laboratory. · If an employee or visitor has been diagnosed with the COVID-19 (or if there is a well-founded suspicion that the workplace has been exposed to a person with the COVID-19), employers should also contact the local public health department which will advise the company about additional measures to be taken to protect others who may have come in contact with the person. |
Good to Know · As of 16 March, schools and non-essential business and shops are closed. Employees are encouraged to work from home as much as possible. *** · Generally, works’ councils must be involved in before measures regarding health and safety are adopted. |
| Preemptive Action · Health Screening: The Hong Kong Department of Health has issued general guidance for preventing the spread of the COVID-19 in the workplace. Under them, it is considered a good precautionary measure to take the temperature and obtain a travel history of staff/visitors on a voluntary basis. · Hygiene: Employers should ensure its offices (i) are maintained with good ventilation; (ii) are cleaned and that frequently touched surfaces are disinfected with 1 in 99 diluted household bleach (or 70% alcohol for metal surfaces); and (iii) equipped with liquid soap and disposable paper towels for washing hands. |
Employer’s Duty to Report COVID-19 Positive Employee · No duty to report |
Good to Know · Restrictions: Since late January, employees have been requested to work from home and schools have been closed. *** · Companies collecting personal data to screen entry to the workplace should issue privacy statements and abide by privacy rules. |
| Preemptive Action · Preemptive measures should be taken in the context of an employer’s regular workplace health & safety procedures. |
Employer’s Duty to Report COVID-19 Positive Employee · No duty to report. · An employer who believes the workplace has possibly been exposed to the COVID-19, is recommended to contact the Ministry of Health, Families & Welfare control room: +91-11-2397 8046 |
Good to Know · Restrictions: Closures and cancellations are being mandated at the local state level. Many events are cancelled. The schools in many states are closed until the end of March. |
| Preemptive Action · Preemptive measures should be taken in the context of an employer’s regular workplace health & safety procedures. |
Employer’s Duty to Report COVID-19 Positive Employee · No duty to report. · Individuals who have reason to believe they have been exposed to COVID-19 are advised to phone their doctor or HSE Live helpline of the Health Protection Surveillance Center 1850 24 1850. |
Good to Know |
| Preemptive Action) · Health Screenings: Under guidelines announced 8 March 2020, employees with a temperature of 38°C may not go to work. · Travel / Contacts: Employers have a duty to decline to admit anyone it knows is under home quarantine. Additionally, any individual may call a general hotline to report individuals who violate the home quarantine requirement. |
Employer’s Duty to Report COVID-19 Positive Employee · No duty to report. · A hotline allows individuals to report someone who breaks home quarantine. |
Good to Know · Lockdown: As of 17 March, Israelis are advised not to leave their homes unless absolutely necessary (e.g., to go to work, or to purchase essential items, such as groceries, medicine or the like.) |
| Preemptive Action · Employers must have a mandatory medical surveillance program under which a designated “person responsible for prevention and protection” (Health & Safety Manager) known as an RSPP, engages an occupational doctor to regularly monitor workers’ health and their suitability to perform the job through a series of compulsory examinations. |
Employer’s Duty to Report COVID-19 Positive Employee · No duty to report. · It is the employer’s responsibility (under the general health and safety laws), to determine if other employees may have been impacted by the ill employee, and if so, request them to abstain from their tasks for a period of 14 days |
Good to Know · Lockdown: As of 10 March, Italians are restricted from leaving their homes except for limited reasons (e.g., to work to attend to health circumstances). |
| Preemptive Action · Employers are encouraged to take affirmative steps to prevent the COVID-19 (including discouraging employees from working when sick and encouraging remote working). |
Employer’s Duty to Report COVID-19 Positive Employee · No duty to report. |
Good to Know · Restrictions: Beginning at the end of February/beginning March, various measures have been taken to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 including the closure of schools and the cancellation of major sporting, cultural and other events. |
| Preemptive Action · If an employee comes to work with COVID-19-like symptoms, the employer is required to immediately send the employee to a registered medical practitioner at the employer’s expense and place the employee on paid medical leave. |
Employer’s Duty to Report COVID-19 Positive Employee · No duty to report. |
Good to Know · Restrictions: As of 18 March, Malaysians are subject to restrictions on movement and public gatherings which includes a ban on all religious, sports, social, and cultural activities. |
| Preemptive Action · Preemptive measures should be taken in the context of an employer’s regular workplace health & safety procedures. |
Employer’s Duty to Report COVID-19 Positive Employee · No duty to report. |
Good to Know · As of 16 March, schools, childcare centers, cafés, restaurants, sports clubs, saunas, sex clubs and coffeeshops were closed. |
| Preemptive Action · Employers have an obligation to ensure that the "working environment” is “fully satisfactory” considering factors that may influence the employees' physical and mental health and welfare are judged separately and collectively. One part of this obligation is to conduct an ongoing and systematic health, environment and safety work monitoring. Recommendations related to the COVID-19 can be found here: https://www.fhi.no/sv/smittsomme-sykdommer/corona/ |
Employer’s Duty to Report COVID-19 Positive Employee · No duty to report. |
Good to Know · Restrictions: As of 12 March, Norway closed schools and asked all who could work from home to do so. |
| Preemptive Action · The Philippines Department of Health and Department of Labor and Employment issued guidelines to educate people on how to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.in the measures were health monitoring (e.g., temperature checks) and travel history, recommendations for maintaining personal & environmental hygiene and for maintaining social distance and food safety. |
Employer’s Duty to Report COVID-19 Positive Employee · Affirmative duty to report to the Department of Health if an employee is suspected of having COVID-19. |
Good to Know · Lockdown: As of 15 March, the Philippines extended the existing lockdown of Manila to the entire island of Luzon. Individuals in this part of the Philippines are required to stay at home except to buy food, medicine and other basics necessary for survival. Private companies have been asked to advance workers’ pay. |
| Preemptive Action · Positive Diagnosis: If the company has an employee diagnosed with the COVID-19, it may not admit him/her to the workplace. · Suspected Case: If there is only a suspicion that the employee has the COVID-19 (e.g. the employee returns from the hazard zone with the symptoms), the company may require the employee (and others who may have been exposed to the employee) to work remotely for a definite period. Additionally, such employees should be advised to go their medical practitioner. · Also, if there are reasonable doubts about admitting an employee to work due to possible contamination with the COVID-19, the employer may refer such individual for medical check-ups. In such case, the employee’s consent is needed though. |
Employer’s Duty to Report COVID-19 Positive Employee · No duty to report. However, if an employee suspected of being infected with the COVID-19 declines advice to be seen by their medical practitioner, the employer may notify the sanitary inspectorate. |
Good to Know · Restrictions: As of 12 March, Poland shut down all schools, universities, cinemas, theaters and museums. |
| Preemptive Action · Health Screenings: The Singapore government has released a detailed Guide on Business Continuity Planning. Businesses are required to take the temperature of staff at least 2x per day and evaluate them for other flu like symptoms (e.g., cough/runny nose). · Travel/Contacts: It is also recommended that travel history be taken (for evaluating whether someone has been to a COVID-19 hotspot). Individuals charged with taking temperatures should wear masks, which should be provided by the employer. · Hygiene: Employers are also recommended to post information about personal hygiene standards that prevent the disease. |
Employer’s Duty to Report COVID-19 Positive Employee · No duty to report. |
Good to Know · Employers are advised to direct anyone with a fever or who is unwell to see a doctor immediately and place him/her on paid medical/hospitalization leave. |
| Preemptive Action · Preemptive measures should be taken in the context of an employer’s regular workplace health & safety procedures. |
Employer’s Duty to Report COVID-19 Positive Employee · No duty to report. |
Good to Know · On 14 March South Africa declared a state of disaster in response to the COVID-19 threat, giving the government the powers to address the threat. |
| Preemptive Action · Health Screenings: Some businesses are checking temperatures of staff and customers and asking about travel history but there is no obligation to do so. |
Employer’s Duty to Report COVID-19 Positive Employee · Affirmative duty to report a COVID-19 positive employee or suspected case to the Korean Center for Disease Control (the hotline number is 1339). |
Good to Know · Schools in South Korea have been closed since late February. · The Korean government has announced the alert level related to the COVID-19 is at red (the maximum) which means that each of the government agencies is authorized to work together to prevent the spread of the virus. · Under the laws regulating infection disease, the Ministry of Health & Welfare (MOHW) and/or local governments (provincial, city, or district offices) exercising MOHW’s delegated authority, may prohibit public gatherings or temporarily close private businesses based on public-health concern where cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in association with the event or business. |
| Preemptive Action · Preemptive measures should be taken in the context of an employer’s regular workplace health & safety procedures. |
Employer’s Duty to Report COVID-19 Positive Employee · No duty to report. |
Good to Know · Lockdown: As of 13 March, Spaniards are permitted to leave their homes only to buy food and medicine, commute to work, go to medical centers and banks, or take trips related to the care for the young, elderly etc. All restaurants, bars, hotels, schools and other non-essential retail outlets are closed. |
| Preemptive Action · Preemptive measures should be taken in the context of an employer’s regular workplace health & safety procedures. |
Employer’s Duty to Report COVID-19 Positive Employee · No duty to report. |
Good to Know |
| Preemptive Action · To safeguard the personal health of its employees, employers must take all measures that are shown by experience to be necessary, that are feasible using the latest technology and that are appropriate to the particular circumstances of the workplace the provided such measures may equitably be expected in the light of each specific employment relationship and the nature of the work. · It is recommended that, if possible, employees be spaced at least two meters apart and encouraged to keep their distance from each other. · If an employer learns that one of its employees/visitors is diagnosed with the COVID-19 it is recommended that the company: o Request the employee immediately go home and call a doctor or the hotline of the Federal Office of Public Health (+41 58 463 00 00); o Notify close contacts and to the extent they are employees request that they work from home. |
Employer’s Duty to Report COVID-19 Positive Employee · No duty to report. |
Good to Know · Restrictions: On 16 March, Switzerland declared a state of emergency. As a result, all non-essential shops, restaurants, bars, entertainment and leisure establishments are closed. |
| Preemptive Action · The Taiwan Occupational Safety and Health Act requires employers to keep the workplace safe and provide employees with necessary and reasonable preventative equipment and take measures to prevent employees from being involved in occupational accidents. · The government requires employers to adopt appropriate measures regarding COVID-19, which may include (i) taking employees’ temperature or asking about travel history; (ii) asking about their health conditions (and if there are any symptoms, advising employees to stay home and visit doctors) (iii) allowing employees to wear a mask at work, particular public facing workers (iv) keeping the workplace clean (disinfected) and the air flowing; (v) providing employees with information to increase their awareness of disease and preventative measures; (vi) refraining from sending employees to visit areas infected by the disease; and (vii) monitoring employees who have recently returned from areas infected by the disease. |
Employer’s Duty to Report COVID-19 Positive Employee · Affirmative duty to report to the Taiwan Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) suspected cases of the COVID-19 within 24 hours. · Employers must be mindful of the individual’s privacy and limit any discussion regarding the individual’s medical condition to the CECC and medical professionals. |
Good to Know · After an extended winter break, Taiwan’s children have been back in school since the end of February with guidelines for school closures if there are confirmed cases. |
| Preemptive Action · Preemptive measures should be taken in the context of an employer’s regular workplace health & safety procedures. |
Employer’s Duty to Report COVID-19 Positive Employee · No duty to report. |
Good to Know |
| Preemptive Action · On 17 March, the UK government issued the following guidelines for employers to prevent the spread of COVID-19 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19/guidance-for-employers-and-businesses-on-coronavirus-covid-19 · The guidelines encourage employers to allow employees to work from home and facilitate sick leave, particularly for vulnerable employees. |
Employer’s Duty to Report COVID-19 Positive Employee · No duty to report. If an employer does choose to report, though, it must receive the employee’s consent to do so due to privacy concerns. |
Good to Know |