Telework adjustment and Self Assessment Testing Tool COVID-19
Telework adjustment
In our newsletter of 11/23/2021 about the mandatory telework declaration, we informed you that telework is currently mandatory for all employees with a teleworkable position during 4 days a week and from December 13, 2021 during 3 days a week. In the meantime, the Consultative Committee decided that the obligation to work at home 4 days a week will be extended by one week. This decision has already been incorporated into a Royal Decree. Consequently, it is only from December 20, 2021 that employees with a teleworkable position are allowed to come to the office 2 days a week, and not from December 13, 2021. Up to and including December 19, 2021, a maximum of 20% of persons with a teleworkable position is allowed to be present in the company at the same time. The other conditions, as explained in our newsletter, remain unchanged.
Absence from work based on the Self Assessment Testing Tool
Employees who are advised to take a corona test on the basis of the Self Assessment Testing Tool and have themselves tested may be justified in being absent from work while retaining their normal salary. This right to paid absence was established by the social partners in the National Labour Council on November 19, 2021 in a collective bargaining agreement with number 160.
The Self Assessment Testing Tool
The Self Assessment Testing Tool is a new tool developed by the government. The tool will exist temporarily, from November 19, 2021 to February 28, 2022. Persons can fill in a questionnaire to find out if a corona test is recommended in their case. If a test is recommended, these persons can obtain a code with which they can schedule a free corona test. The aim of this Self Assessment Testing Tool is to ease the burden on doctors, as persons with mild symptoms no longer have to contact them.
Who
This new form of justified absence is intended only for persons with mild symptoms of corona.
In the following situations, it will not be possible to be tested on the basis of the Self Assessment Testing Tool and, consequently, to make use of the justified absence:
- Employees who show severe symptoms, belong to a risk group or whose health is deteriorating rapidly. These employees should contact a doctor.
- Employees who, regardless of the nature of their symptoms, feel too ill to go to work. These employees should also consult a doctor.
- Employees who want to get tested because they had a high-risk contact, they want to obtain a valid covid safe ticket, or they want to travel.
- Employees who have no symptoms, but are quarantined after a positive test result because they are able to work, but are not allowed to go to work. These employees receive a quarantine certificate and can continue working if they can telework. If teleworking is not possible, these employees can make use of temporary unemployment due to force majeure.
Paid absence
An employee who is advised through the Self Assessment Testing Tool to get tested can obtain an absence certificate which allows them to keep their salary for the period of absence. If your employee is absent from work on the basis of this absence certificate, you can book the absence as a paid leave of absence.
The time period of the justified absence varies depending on whether the employee can telework or not.
- Teleworking is not possible
The employee who cannot telework is allowed to be absent from work for the time necessary to undergo a corona test and to obtain the result of that test, with a maximum duration of 36 hours from the moment the absence certificate is generated by the Self Assessment Testing Tool.
- Teleworking is possible
The employee who can telework is allowed to be absent from work for the time necessary to undergo a corona test. In this case, the employee continues to carry out the employment contract by teleworking until the result of this test is obtained.
It is of course imaginable that the employee has not received the test result 36 hours later. In any case, the employee will no longer be able to make use of the justified absence, but in this case, the employee should contact his doctor to obtain a certificate of incapacity for work or a quarantine certificate.
From November 19, 2021 to February 28, 2022, an employee can make use of the possibility to be absent from work to do a corona test based on the Self Assessment Testing Tool for maximum 3 times. The purpose of this restriction is to prevent abuse.
Obligations towards the employer
An employee who is absent from work must immediately inform his employer and submit to his employer the certificate of absence issued by the Self Assessment Testing Tool.
The employee must use the absence from work for the purpose for which it is permitted.
The employee should be tested as soon as possible after being advised to do so. In addition, the employee must be tested by the institution from which he can reasonably expect to receive the test result as quickly as possible and which is located at a reasonable distance from his home, residence or place of work. In many cases, this will be a pharmacy nearby that works with rapid antigen tests.
As soon as the employee knows the test result, the employee shall inform the employer of his return to work or his continued absence.
Test result
If the test result is positive, a doctor will then decide whether the employee will receive a quarantine certificate or a certificate of incapacity for work. In the case of a quarantine certificate, an employee who can telework can continue to work. If the employee cannot telework, the employee can claim a benefit for temporary unemployment.
If the test result is negative, an employee who could not telework will resume his work.
