We, at JumpCO, are watching the Covid-19 pandemic with concern. We will do everything we practically can to adopt procedures to work in the best interest of our employees, their families, our clients, suppliers and our community.

 

We are in agreement with the leading authorities, both locally and internationally, that this is a life-threatening virus and that it is highly infectious and the early stages of containment are key to a responsible response.

 

As such, we have: –

• Stopped all business travel 
• Stopped all company social gatherings
• We have restricted all meetings to remote conferencing 
• We will be introducing a “social distancing” at work 
• All staff must also practice social distancing in their own communities. 
• All social distancing to be done in line with governments social distancing guidelines (page 2)
• Interns will not be required to travel for work unless you are specifically required to do so by your manager and necessary precautionary measures are in place. 
• We will provide the infrastructure, if necessary, to help you facilitate the “social distancing” work arrangement for your situation.
• We adopted a strict personal hygiene policy in our offices homes and communities (see page 2 for guidelines)
• All staff are must encourage others follow social distancing and personal hygiene practices.
• Any staff member with respiratory or associated illness or symptoms consistent with COVID-19 should self-isolate.
• Any staff member with symptoms consistent with COVID-19 should immediately phone a local doctor and find out where to get tested
• Any visitors to our offices will be required to sign a visitors’ form with personal contact details in the event they should need to be contacted. The form must be completed before entering the offices.
• We will engage with our suppliers and clients to align our policy with theirs with, first and foremost, the safety of staff top of mind

 

South Africa Government – Social Distancing Guidelines

 

 

• Will adopt the following as legal guidelines, posted by Gerrie Ebersohn Attorneys on their facebook page (below)  with respect to leave, travel and quarantine.

 

Sick leave, Quarantine and Covid-19

According to the World Health Organisation more than 114 000 people have been infected with Coronavirus (Covid-19). The Department of Health has confirmed seven cases of novel Covid-19 in South Africa and tracer agents have been employed to locate the individuals with whom these seven patients have had contact.

The outbreak of Covid-19 is the first pandemic of its kind to hit South Africa, and the Department of Health scrambles to contain the virus, Employers in local businesses have largely been left in unchartered waters. Employers should be aware of the following legal aspects when dealing with the Covid-19 in its continued operations in order to mitigate the risks of contamination and ensuring business continuity.

 

The question however remains: what are the rights and responsibilities of both employers and employees in the context of Covid-19?

 

According to Section 8 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993, the employer must, where reasonably practicable, provide and maintain a safe, healthy work environment that is without risk to employees.

 

In light of the risks posed by Covid-19, there is undoubtedly an obligation on the employer to manage the risk of contamination in the workplace. This can be accomplished by ensuring that the workplace is clean and hygienic, encouraging employees to regularly wash their hands with anti-bacterial soap, endorsing good respiratory hygiene by employees and keeping employees appraised of developments relating to Covid-19.

 

What happens if an employee contracts Covid-19?

 

In the event that an employee contracts Covid-19, the

 

employer must grant an employee sick leave in accordance with its sick leave policy. In the event that an employee does not have sick leave, or has used all his / her sick leave, the employee must be placed on unpaid leave, as would be the case with any normal illness.

 

In the event that the employer’s business is conductive of employees working from home, the employer may require the affected employee to work from home until such time as he is cleared to return to work. Healthy employees may also be requested to self-isolate and work from home to minimise the risk of infection.

 

Employees who cannot work from home

 

If it is impossible for healthy employees to work from home due to the nature of their work, the employer may not deduct the period of quarantine as sick leave or annual leave if the quarantine or sick leave was made compulsory by the employer.

 

Due to the nature of the illness, an employee that has been diagnosed with Covid-19 should not be permitted to return to work until that employee is tested by a medical practitioner and cleared to return to work. In this regard the employer is entitled to request that a medical certificate be produced by a physician whereby the employee is cleared to return to work.

 

Self-quarantine

 

In the case of voluntary quarantine (ie, quarantine at the behest of the employee as a precautionary measure), the employee is not sick, and therefore the employee is not entitled to sick leave. Such leave will be classified as unpaid leave.

 

Self-quarantine should be treated as a last resort as this will undoubtedly be open to abuse by employees.

 

Business Travel

 

In respect of business travel, employers should issue clear travel guidelines to its employees on international travel, particularly to countries affected by Covid-19 and impress on employees the importance of adhering to these guidelines.

 

In the event that the employer demands that the employee travel to an area affected by the Covid-19 virus, the employee will undoubtedly have the right to reasonably refuse the employer’s instructions as adhering to the employer’s instructions may endanger the life of the employee and contribute to the spread of Covid-19.

 

Personal Travel

 

The employer cannot demand that employees cancel or postpone personal and/or holiday travel to areas affected by the Covid-19 virus. That being said, employees who nevertheless choose do travel to affected countries, should not be allowed to immediately return to work after such travel. To this end, the employer should, in the interest of protecting its business and employees, require employees who have travelled to affected areas to self-isolate (compulsory quarantine) for at least 14 days after returning to South Africa.

• This policy may be updated from time to time as the situation develops.

 

Thank you for cooperation