Corona: Do I have to work in quarantine - or will I be released from work?
Created: 2020-12-29Updated: 2020-12-29, 3:37 p.m
By: Andrea Stettner
Working in quarantine: do I have to or am I exempt?
© Sebastian Kahnert/dpa
Will I be released from my job if the health department orders home quarantine?
Or does home office beckon?
We will show you in which cases you have to work.
“You have to be in quarantine!” Anyone who receives this call from the health department after contact with a person infected with Covid 19 is initially at a loss.
Will I be on sick leave now or do I have to work from home?
Or will my employer release me?
An overview of what applies under labor law in the Corona crisis*.
Quarantine: In this case, the doctor writes you off sick
Whether you have to work in quarantine or not depends first of all on whether you are showing
symptoms of Covid-19 disease
.
According to the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV), if you feel signs of corona disease such as cough, fever or a slight sore throat, the doctor can give you sick leave.
With the issued certificate of incapacity for work (AU), you then report sick to the employer.
In this case, of course, you do not have to work in quarantine, just like with other illnesses.
You can read more about the topic here:
Corona: Do I get sick leave if I have to go into quarantine?
Working in quarantine: In this case you have to work
However, if you do not show any symptoms of infection with SARS-CoV-2 in quarantine at home, you must work
if you can work from home
.
The same applies if you are in quarantine at another location and can work remotely from there (e.g. on a business trip).
But be careful: If you don't work even though you could work in quarantine, you're treading on thin ice.
Because under labor law, this is equivalent to a
refusal
to work .
Employees are then threatened with a warning or even dismissal.
Also read:
Coronavirus: Do workers in quarantine still get paid?
These workers are exempt from work duties in quarantine
Anyone who
absolutely has to work in the company because they operate
machines, for example, is usually released
from their obligation to work
.
But even in this case there are exceptions: According to his right to issue instructions, the employer may also assign tasks to the employee that he can complete within the quarantine.
You should therefore definitely discuss the situation with your manager and under no circumstances just stay at home if you have to be in quarantine.
(as) *Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Zentral editorial network.
More on the subject:
Sick leave: Does the weekend count towards the three-day period?
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Further sources: Law firm Gleiss Lutz, Juris.de
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