HRSINGAPORE Community

Dear HR Community,

We have staff who commute daily from Johore as the Malaysian border is now open.

One of the staff came to work feeling unwell and tested positive for COVID subsequently.

We tried to arrange for isolation but the authorities told us to wait for 1-3 days and so we cannot quarantine this worker immediately.

We, therefore, have to arrange for a hotel and the employee is asking us to foot the bill.

As there are no guidelines on this, do you reimburse the hotel expenses in full or co-share it with Covid positive staff?

Thank you in advance for your replies and advice.

Regards

Wendy

HR Poll: Do you reimburse the hotel expenses in full or co-share it with Covid positive staff?

Reimburse in full: 35.09%

Co-share: 21.05%

Employee bears the full cost: 28.07%

Not Sure: 15.79%

REPLIES & COMMENTS: 

Provide ART kits to staff and require them to do self-test daily before leaving home for work. - SK

If the said staff is on work pass, then the company will have to pay for it. But most of the time, we negotiate with the staff and management on the % co-share. - Christina

It is an employee's responsibility to self-test ART daily or when they are not feeling well. Therefore, they should take ownership of the consequences. If the employee decided or agreed to leave the hotel arrangement in good hands of the company, it is logical to self-pay or co-share. Whatever it is, it must be communicated to the employee beforehand. If it is not documented, company may have to bear 100% of the cost. - Jacqueline

If the employee is able to work from the hotel during the 72 hours of isolation, you might consider co-sharing the cost  with the C+ staff. - Shirley