Management of quarantine, childcare and medical leave for employees affected by COVID-19.
As provided for in Article 26, paragraph 1, of Law Decree no. 18/2020, the quarantine period with active surveillance or the period of fiduciary home stay with active surveillance of private sector employees, shall be treated as an illness for the purposes of the economic treatment provided for under the law, and cannot be counted for the purposes of the grace period.
Employees who fear infection and refuse to work.
There are no official guidelines on this. If the employer has implemented all the necessary safety measures, while always prioritising the use of smart working in all cases where it is compatible with the tasks carried out by the employee, a refusal not motivated, for example by proven health reasons, could lead to disciplinary action for insubordination. However, it is always advisable to consider, with caution, the need for the employee to be onsite when there are equally satisfactory alternatives.
Disclosure of employees who are infected.
If an employee is found to be infected, it will be necessary to isolate him/her from the other employees, to inform the competent Local Health Authority, and await their instructions on how to handle the employee’s situation, accordingly, thus allowing doctors to trace any contacts and define the contagion dynamics. The data must be processed in compliance with the GDPR.