After the Health Ministry issued an advisory to the public to defer all non-essential travel to reduce the risk of contracting COVID-19 infection, tripartite partners responded with a general advisory for employers and employees on 16 March 2020.
Released by the Manpower Ministry (MOM), NTUC and the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF), the advisory contains additional guidelines for employers regarding their employees travelling overseas during the Covid-19 pandemic.
On the treatment of employees who travel outside Singapore, whether it is for work or otherwise, the advisory stated that companies should set out clear HR policies.
The policies should also include any company 14-day Leave of Absence (LOA) from work for the employees after their return.
The advisory also stated that the policies must be communicated clearly to their employees to avoid confusion and disputes, adding that the company’s union should be consulted when drafting such HR policies.
Work-related travel should also be deferred if they are not essential, according to the advisory. And if work-related travel cannot be avoided, employers must ensure that their employees’ health is adequately protected in accordance with MOH guidelines.
Meanwhile, employers should also provide additional paid leave and expenses including overseas accommodation and living allowance to employees if there is a quarantine or self-isolation period imposed by the destination country on the employee; delay in employee’s return to Singapore, including where the employer is unable to obtain MOM’s pre-entry approval for the foreign employee and the employee needs to stay in the destination country for a longer than expected period as a result; and mandatory Stay-Home Notice (SHN) or company-imposed LOA that the employee may be required to serve upon his return to Singapore.
The advisory also urged employers to accede to their employees’ request to not go on any work-related travel and not penalise them for making such a request.
Employers should also remind their employees of MOH’s travel advisory to defer non-essential travel plans to all countries.
Employees should also declare all travel plans to their employers. The destinations include, but not limited to, the affected areas covered by mandatory SHN requirements.
If employees still proceed to travel even after MOH has issued the travel advisory, the employer can make the employees use their own annual leave entitlements to cover the SHN duration. However, this should apply only if travel is made after the mandatory SHN has been put in place.
The advisory added that the employer can allow employees to consume advance leave or put them on no-pay leave if the employees do not have enough annual leave entitlements.
The LOA-SHN Support Programme for employers and self-employed persons will also not be applicable if travel to the affected areas commenced after 15 March 2020.
Employers and self-employed persons will still be eligible for the $100 daily support when affected workers serve out their mandatory SHN if their travel out of Singapore commenced on or before 15 March 2020.
