The government wants to abolish the mandatory corona tests for returnees and send them back into quarantine. Do you have to apply for extra vacation?
- Returnees could soon face compulsory quarantine .
- However, the state may have to pay for the loss of earnings of return travelers.
- Here is the current legal situation.
Quarantine after returning from risk area: State pays costs for loss of earnings
Update from August 27, 2020 : According to a report by the German Press Agency, a spokesman for the Ministry of Health explains that travelers who return from a corona risk area and have to be in quarantine do not have to fear a loss of earnings - nor do they have to take vacation . With reference to the Infection Protection Act and the quarantine regulations of the federal states, he said: “This means that the employee has to stay at home for the period of quarantine due to official orders. Therefore, there is no obligation for him to take vacation, nor does he have to fear loss of earnings. "
A compensation regulation contained therein states that the state pays for loss of earnings if someone is "subject to or is subject to prohibitions in the exercise of his previous employment and thereby suffers a loss of earnings." According to the spokesman for the Ministry of Health, the legal basis also applies if someone knowingly is in one At risk area.
The deputy government spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer appealed to the responsibility of each individual. It should be considered whether a trip to a risk area is really inevitable.
Forced quarantine for returnees: do I have to take a vacation?
Original message from August 26, 2020 : Federal Minister of Health Spahn announced that he would like to abolish the recently introduced mandatory corona tests for travel returnees * from risk areas. “The laboratory capacities are finite,” he justified the change in direction.
Spahn is aiming for a new regulation for returnees: Will the quarantine obligation return?
Instead, affected holidaymakers should go back to a 14-day quarantine and stricter reviews of the quarantine measures should take place. In other words, the random checks to determine whether people adhere to their quarantine obligations will be intensified in the future. The only way to be able to leave self-isolation early should be a negative corona test five days after arrival at the earliest. At the same time, that means: five days of quarantine are safe for every returnee from a risk area .
Spahn is confident that this "reinforced quarantine regime" will be resolved in the talks between the state leaders and Chancellor Merkel on Thursday. The new regulation is then expected to apply from September 15 or October 1 .
But what does that mean for employees and employers? The quarantine obligation ultimately inevitably extends the “vacation” of returnees.
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Do I have to request extra vacation for the time I am in quarantine?
Anyone who has to be in compulsory quarantine does not receive any special leave from their employer , as Nicole Mutschke, specialist lawyer for labor law from Düsseldorf explains in an interview with Bild.de. This means that employees have to apply for regular leave for the days they spend in quarantine. If the boss does not extend the vacation before departure, the stay in the risk area must be shortened.
" Yes, you have to plan the five days of extra vacation in advance, " explains Mutschke. "Alternatively you can z. B. agree to work from home. Nobody can expect the boss to pay for quarantine days - according to the corona entry regulations, he will probably not receive any compensation from the state. There is only a quarantine according to the Infection Protection Act, so if you z. B. had contact with a corona patient at home and therefore has to stay at home. "
Nevertheless, an employee is not obliged to notify the boss of a trip to a risk area. However, if the supervisor asks directly where the journey is going, you have to answer the question truthfully , as Mutschke warns. The employer bears the duty of care for his employees. * Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.
Also read : Can the employer require a corona test when you were on vacation?
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