C O V I D - 1 9 S U R V I V A L G U I D E
Q. They are instructed by a medical professional to self-isolate? • No, unless they have paid personal leave entitlements available to use, in which case they may request to access this, in accordance with leave policies. Q. They are in quarantine? • No, unless they have paid personal leave entitlements available to use, in which case they may request to access this, in accordance with leave policies. Q. Employee has flu symptoms and should be in self- isolation, but feels fit to work and is required to work? • Regardless of whether they feel fit to work, they must follow Australian Government advice. If this means that they must self-isolate, then there is no requirement to pay, however you may wish to consider allowing them to access their paid leave entitlements if they wish to take them, in accordance with leave policies. • If they turn up for work, you can send them home on health and safety grounds and pay them in full. Q. They have flu symptoms, are not in self-isolation and employer does not want them to work? • If they are saying they are fit to work despite symptoms, and you don’t want them to attend work, then this would be deemed suspension on health and safety grounds so you would pay them in full. • We are aware that employers will not want their employees to have any financial difficulties. So, we would encourage you to find ways of staff being able to work to enable them to receive full pay. For example, working from home or working on alternative projects, if you don’t have the technology to allow them to work from home. • Regardless of your statutory obligations as an employer, it is unsettling that employees might suffer financially when self-isolating to protect their colleagues. Where they have paid leave entitlements, they are able to access, we would encourage you to consider allowing them to take these to ease the financial burden. THA templates available upon request • Stand down due to Coronavirus templates • Alternative work arrangements during coronavirus-letter template • Reducing hours of work and rates of pay • Fair Work www.fwc.gov.au/about-us/contact-us If you have any other questions in relation to your employees, or any other matters please contact us.
• You will need to ensure working from home policies are up to date and appropriate health and safety risk assessments are performed. Q. What if the employer needs to close all or part of the business? • If a business is required to temporarily cease its operations due to government advice (i.e. it is outside of the employer’s control), the employer may be able to stand down employees that cannot usefully be employed. • JobSeeker or JobKeeper options are available dependent on eligibility criteria being satisfied. Q. Can the employer force employees to reduce their hours or salary in the event of a business slow-down? • We would suggest consulting with your employees to find alternative solutions where possible such as reductions in hours or salary for a period of time by agreement between the employer and employee. • This agreement should be an agreed variation as per award consultation requirements. Q. If business starts to slow down, can I force employees take annual leave? • This will depend on the award, agreement or employment contract that applies to your employees or organisation. Generally speaking, there are limited circumstances where you can insist on employees taking annual leave (e.g. in the case of excessive leave balances which is 8 weeks in most awards). Q. What happens if I need to make a positions/person redundant? • The normal rules will still apply. • You will need to demonstrate that it is a genuine redundancy; • You need to follow any consultation requirements in the relevant award, agreement or contract; • and you need to consider all other alternatives such as redeployment. • You will also need to comply with any notice requirements and pay any redundancy, leave and other statutory entitlements as applicable. • We strongly advise that you seek specific advice in these circumstances. Q. Do I have to pay them if they choose to self-isolate? • This would be unpaid unauthorised absence; however, you may wish to consider allowing them to access their paid leave entitlements if they want to take them, in accordance with leave policies.
THA HOSPITALITY—REVIEW: COVID-19 SURVIVAL GUIDE APRIL 2020 | 11
Made with FlippingBook Learn more on our blog