Guidelines on handling issues relating to coronavirus

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 6 -- The government has issued guidelines on handling issues relating to contagious outbreaks including 2019 novel coronavirus infections (2019-nCoV).

Human Resources Minister M Kula Segaran said the Department of Labour of Peninsular Malaysia has been bombarded with questions regarding issues on employment relating to the cluster virus since early this year.

“The most common enquiry is regarding employers preventing employees from attending work, especially those returning from countries with 2019-nCoV cases such as China, Thailand, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore,” he said in a statement. 

In this light, he said, employers are to the following actions: 

• To instruct employees to be examined immediately, at the expense of the employer, by a registered medical practitioner or by a medical officer as stipulated by Section 60F of Employment Act 1955;
• To provide paid sick leave or hospitalisation entitlement during the quarantine period to employees receiving quarantine orders from a registered medical practitioner, regardless of the employee being quarantined at home or at the hospital. Employers are encouraged to provide extra remuneration to employees with quarantine order exceeding sick leave or hospitalisation; 
• To provide full pay to employees receiving quarantine orders from registered medical practitioner upon from countries with 2019-nCoV cases due to official duty or instructions from employers;
• To not prevent any employees from attending work if no quarantine orders are issued by any registered medical practitioner. However, employers are allowed to instruct any unwell employee from coming to the workplace by providing paid sick leave to the employee; and
• To not instruct employees, in any way, to utilise annual leave entitlement or take unpaid leave during the quarantine period.

-- BERNAMA