How to treat absence for COVID positive home quarantine - Which leave is to be considered

An officer of our company met his ex-boss, who has been identified as a COVID positive patient. Our management asked that officer to observe home quarantine for 7 days.

There needs to be clarification on how to treat the absence of this officer. Which leave should be considered, and which leave account should be debited?

Dear Peri,

"Home Quarantine" consequent on physical contact with any coronavirus-infected person is a medical necessity. Therefore, in my opinion, these days should be treated as sick leave by the employer.

Hi,

So far, there is no clarity as to how to deal with such kind of absence where the employee has either been asked by management to self-quarantine or mandatory quarantine imposed by the respective local authorities. There are no prescribed guidelines so far, even for government employees. As per the extant rules in most of the PSUs/Government Departments, self-quarantine is allowed when a member of the family or household is suffering from any contagious disease, such as chickenpox, cholera, etc. However, COVID-19 being novel and unprecedented, no guidelines have been framed yet. I have already raised this issue here through a separate thread.

PSUs/MNCs/Organizations are dealing with the absence of quarantined employees differently as per their management's decision. In some departments, it is being treated as Work From Home, while others are requiring employees to take leave to regularize the absence. Some organizations are granting Quarantine Leave, which is not admissible as per the current ruling.

The matter is still under examination by various organizations, including the government, but the issue is yet to be resolved to have a uniform view/call.

JSM

Hi,

So far, there is no clarity as to how to deal with such kind of absence where the employee has either been asked by Management to self-quarantine or mandatory quarantine imposed by the respective local authorities. There are no prescribed guidelines so far, even for government employees. As per the extant rules in most of the PSUs/Government Departments, self-quarantine is allowed when a member of the family or household is suffering from any contagious disease, such as chicken pox, cholera, etc. However, COVID-19, being novel and unprecedented, no guidelines have been framed yet. I have already raised this issue here through a separate thread.

PSUs/MNCs/Organizations are handling the absence due to quarantine of employees differently based on their management's decision. In some departments, it is being treated as Work From Home, while others are requiring employees to take leave to regularize the absence. Some are granting Quarantine Leave, which is not currently admissible as per the current ruling.

The matter is still under examination by various organizations, including the Government, but the issue is yet to be resolved to have a uniform view/call.

JSM

Dear R R Peri,

My question is, how do you handle an employee's absence from duty due to an illness? This includes treating a Covid patient in the same manner. It is an internal matter within your organization that needs to be addressed and resolved promptly.

It is undoubtedly necessary to grant leave with wages for medical reasons, such as illness (e.g., typhoid) or injuries (e.g., road accidents), under medical grounds. Please approve the wages for the aforementioned period without any hindrances. It is a legal requirement to provide salary for the quarantine period of COVID-19, which is unavoidable. Not paying the salary for this period can lead to legal consequences. Additionally, it is essential for protecting others from the coronavirus.

Thank you.

Dear R R Peri,

I have reread your query and now have a different view based on my fresh understanding. The on-duty officer encountered someone connected to the company who has been identified as a Covid positive patient. As a result, you instructed that officer to observe home quarantine for 7 days. In this situation, it is essential to consider the well-being of the officer on duty. It is also a moral responsibility, even though home quarantine is not classified as an occupational disease.

I hope that Umakanthan Sir will agree with my perspective.

Kind regards, [Your Name]

We are looking at only one aspect of the issue. There are many other aspects. I will provide another practical example here. I am currently based in Jammu. As per the SoP, anyone entering the territory of Jammu, whether by road, rail, or air, is required to undergo a COVID-19 test. Upon receiving a negative result, the person is compulsorily required to quarantine at home for 14 days.

The problem arises when anyone returning from leave (outside Jammu) has to undergo a 14-day quarantine. The issue at hand is how to address the absence of 14 days due to mandatory quarantine as per the SoP.

Quarantine leave, as per the leave rules, is not admissible. In such cases, should this period be considered as 'on duty' even though the individual is not physically present in the office? If this period is to be categorized as 'special paid leave' or 'on duty,' then the question arises as to how many times the organization can provide it as 'paid special leave' or on duty. This situation has persisted for the last four months...!

In the absence of any specific guidelines from the government or statutory regulations to date, it is appropriate to treat an employee infected with COVID-19 (and who is required to be on home quarantine for 14 days) as on medical leave with full pay to the extent they are entitled. If the employee's sick leave quota is exhausted, the extra days of home quarantine should be offset against their PL or EL quota if available. If the employer wishes to demonstrate benevolence, they may, at their discretion, grant special leave with wages not exceeding 14 days to employees forced into home quarantine due to COVID-19.

Panchsen

P. Senthilkumar

IR and Labour Law consultant

Former Corporate Head - IR, MRF Ltd, Chennai

senprithvib6@gmail.com

9884009193

Dear Malhotraji,

Rules are not God-given. Depending on the necessity created by extraordinary circumstances, the rule maker has to relax the rule if it does not cover any such particular situation that happens to be abnormal and unprecedented.

Quarantine is a compulsory medical protocol; therefore, it forms part of the period of sickness for which leave is granted. It is better to sanction leave of absence to the employee based on the reasoning spelled out by our learned friends Senthilkumar and Akhil.

It is better to make an amendment to the existing Leave Rules by adding a provision for quarantine leave in case of pandemics. After all, if there is a will, there is a way!

ESIC also extended its benefits to IPs suffering from Covid-19. Without any second thought, the poster can consider sick leave for the officer who is asked to follow home quarantine. If his sick leave is exhausted, then special leave or extraordinary leave can be considered to enable him to tide over the crisis.

Home quarantine person is not bedridden. The period of quarantine can be treated as a period allowed to work from home, and they can be paid full wages without deduction of any kind of leave, without any loss of mandays for management as well.

Dear Umakanthan Sa'ab,

I do agree with you! Rules are for guidance, but in our case, being a Government Sector, we also have to keep in mind the provisions being followed in this regard by other Government Departments or similarly placed companies. I have a few examples where Government Departments are asking their employees to apply for leave of the kind due for the forced quarantine period imposed by the respective Administration upon return from leave to HQ. There are pros and cons to everything. However, we also have to consider the positive side as to why the employee should suffer due to the protocol imposed by the Local Administration.

We are, however, examining the issue in its depth and breadth, taking into account all relevant factors and the practices being followed by others.

Anyway, thanks for the valuable contribution by all the esteemed members!

Your positive response is appreciated, Mr. Malhotra. My views do not exclude Central and State Govt. Departments and PSUs. The country-wide lockdown is the brainchild of our Central Govt. in the interest of the people, and as such, it will not be fair to question the wisdom behind the ad hoc decision. But the people at the helm of affairs should do the situational management exercises with insight and foresight as well. When quarantine is an essential measure that cannot be skipped, what's the difficulty in amending the leave rules accordingly by the concerned organizations themselves or the Central and State Govts issuing an executive direction in this regard?

Dear Friends,

It came to my attention today that an article by AZB & Partners, Advocates and Solicitors contains a question that is very relevant to our current discussion. Therefore, I wanted to share it here.

The question:

Is there any duty for the employer to compensate employees who have contracted the virus?

Answer:

Currently, there is no requirement for an employer to compensate employees who have contracted the virus. However, certain State Governments have issued notifications/orders requiring employers to grant 28 days of paid leave to employees who have been infected with COVID-19. If an employee gets infected due to coming to work, it may be possible for the employee to file a tortious claim for damages against the employer.

I am also providing the link to the article: [India - Coping With COVID-19 - FAQs For Indian Employers. | Conventus Law](http://www.conventuslaw.com/report/india-coping-with-covid-19-faqs-for-indian/)

Thank you.

The Labour Department, Government of Karnataka, vide Notification No. KAE 66 KaBani 2020 (Part 1) dated 6th November 2020 (enclosed), has issued the following advisory to employers of all public or private companies in the state:

(1) The period of quarantine of employees/workers infected by Coronavirus shall not be treated as unauthorized absence.
(2) Employers are advised to enable employees/workers infected by the Coronavirus to utilize leaves under their quota for the period of quarantine.
(3) Employees/workers who are not covered under ESIC, even if they are not entitled to leave, if infected by the Coronavirus, considering the larger interest of society, should be granted leave as available/possible, in terms of their employment, to undergo quarantine.
(4) In case employees/workers infected by the Coronavirus do not have leave in their account, employers are advised to facilitate the transfer of leave from the accounts of other employees/workers to enable them to undergo quarantine.
(5) If an employee does not have leave under their quota and it is fully utilized, employers are advised to provide advance leave which the employees are eligible to avail in the future so that the infected employee/workers may undergo quarantine.
(6) When employers are unable to grant leave on their own initiative to employees and such employees do not have any leave under their quota, both employers and employees are encouraged to consult with each other regarding granting special leave for the period and come to an amicable solution.

Hence, employers in Karnataka are advised to follow the guidelines to ensure maximum containment of COVID-19 and the utmost safety of all employees at their establishments.