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How should an employer tackle the corona virus (risk)? Please be provided below with several focus areas relating to labor law.

1. Information

Properly inform your employees of the symptoms of the Corona virus and make them aware of hygiene instructions. The company doctor may also play an important role in this respect.

2. Keeping the workplace clean

Employers shall ensure a safe working environment: it is therefore advised to have the work place cleaned more frequently than usual (inter alia pay special attention to door handles, light switches, banisters, keyboards and computer mice).

3. Contamination suspicion

If an employee reports himself with a suspicion of contamination, the employer shall have to deny the employee temporarily access to the workplace.

4. Working from home

In order to minimize the risk of contamination the employer could set up a (temporary) work-from-home policy or make (temporary) arrangements with the employee to that end in individual cases.

5. Calamities leave

The corona virus may lead to certain calamities, which for instance could be the case now schools and daycare facilities have been closed down. In the event of a calamity, an employee may possibly be entitled to several hours (up to several days) of paid disaster leave, under the Dutch Act on Labor and Care.

6. Salary and illness

If one or more of your employees are infected with the corona virus, they will remain entitled to salary, in principle, in conformity with the applicable sick-leave scheme.

7. Business Trips to a Risk Area?

Do not travel to risk areas. Check the latest travel information e.g. of RIVM or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Be aware that developments often precede official information to some extent.

8. Temporary emergency measures replace working time reduction scheme

If your organization is expecting a loss in turnover of at least 20% per 1 March 2020, you can submit a request at the UWV for a compensation of employee wages for a period of three months. The maximum compensation is 90% of the wages, depending on the loss of turnover. One of the conditions is that no personnel may be dismissed for economic reasons during this three month period. Any other possible conditions are unknown at this point. This new temporary regulation replaces the working time reduction scheme. Therefore, no new applications for working time reduction can be submitted. Requests that have been filed already but are still pending will now be processed in accordance with the new temporary emergency measures.

9. Employee participation

If there is a decision regarding adoption, amendment or withdrawal of a scheme relating to working conditions, sick-leave or reintegration policy, consent of the Works Council is required. Introducing a scheme by reason of the corona virus in an organization may therefore be subject to consent. Even apart from the consent right, we recommend to have the Works Council and director discuss the situation to see what reasonable measures can be taken to protect the employees.

10. Privacy

You shall not record that an employee is infected with the corona virus or inform other employees who has been infected. Scanning employees for possible contamination, such as taking their temperature, is not allowed. This is in violation of privacy laws and regulations. However, upon reviewing employees’ requests for holiday you may ask for their vacation destination and you are allowed to enquire whether an employee has visited a risk area, so you may take precautionary measures if need be. You are also allowed to inform how long a sick employee expects to be absent from work, or whether any work should be taken over during his or her absence.