If PPIS (State Poviat Sanitary Inspector) or PGIS (State Border Sanitary Inspector) issues a decision to submit to an employee's quarantine or isolation, under such decision employee has the right to receive benefits due to illness paid on general terms by the employer or ZUS.
Pay or sickness benefits can be also paid if you are temporarily unable to work due to illness, as evidenced by a medical certificate issued by a doctor while undergoing hospitalization, isolation, or quarantine. The right to these benefits will not be entitled to a person who refrains from working voluntarily and doesn't have such a medical certificate or decision of a sanitary inspector.
However, in case of child care (up to the age of 8 years) during unexpected closure of the facility where the child attends, the employee is entitled to care allowance for 60 calendar days per year. Besides, since the entry into force of the Act on specific solutions related to coronavirus, in the above situation, the employee has the right to additional care allowance for a period not exceeding 14 days, not included in the limit of 60 days of receiving this benefit in a calendar year. The allowance may be entitled to both parents up to 14 days in total, irrespective of the number of children who need care due to the facility closure.
To counteract COVID-19, the employer may also, under the Act, apply such measures as ordering an employee to perform duties towards the employer, at a certain time at home, i.e. remote work (home office, telework). If the employer does not have internal regulations regarding telework, as a rule, they should be regulated in a written agreement with the employee. In the case of remote work being the result of an employer's order to counteract coronavirus, the Act does not regulate matters of regulations or agreements. All organizational issues, how the employee performs tasks, etc. can be arranged in this situation by email or telephone with the employee. There is no minimum time limit during which an employee should work in telework mode, and the employee cannot refuse to perform it, because he is exposed to the consequences, also in the form of dismissal.
When performing telework, the employer should provide the employee with the appropriate tools (telephone, computer, remote access to work files, platforms, etc.), and the employee should not bear any own costs related to the organization of the workplace.
Dz.U. 2020 poz. 374
Act of March 2, 2020, on specific solutions related to the prevention, prevention, and eradication of COVID-19, other infectious diseases and crises
Other important information for employers at the National Labour Inspectorate page.
Should you have questions, please contact our expert:
Justyna Trochimiuk
Payroll Manager
E: jtrochimiuk@asbgroup.eu
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