Quarantined workers to make up lost hours

Employees who have to self-isolate due to the coronavirus and are unable to work from home will have to work up to an additional three hours per day once they return to their workplace to make up for lost time, according to a provision that is expected to be included in the draft law that the government will table to Parliament.

More specifically, employees who quarantine for seven or 14 days, as required by the National Public Health Organization (EODY), in order to protect themselves and their colleagues from possible exposure to the coronavirus, will receive their salary normally and their employer will also cover their social insurance contributions.

However, at the end of the forced absence from work, employees will have to make up for the loss in working days and hours of quarantine, if the solution of teleworking is not possible, by working up to three hours per day in addition to their daily schedule. The extra work will not be remunerated as overtime, but the relevant labor law protection provisions for working time limits must be observed.

According to the Labor Ministry, the new rule is part of the package of emergency measures for the labor market, which has suffered from the impact of coronavirus, and mainly concerns workers who do not get sick themselves but must be quarantined as part of preventive control regulations to limit the spread of the disease, in line with official instructions and recommendations by EODY. Another provision of the draft law concerns leave for working parents who contract the virus. The cost of the leave will be co-financed by the employer and the state. A medical certificate will be required, which will determine how long this leave should last.