Employers can request that their workers not leave the nation amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Labor said yesterday.
Many businesses have in the past several days sent internal memos to staff banning international travel following reports that the nation’s 54th confirmed case hid their overseas travel history from their employer, resulting in their colleagues being quarantined.
Through changes to their work rules or other methods, employers can let workers know that remaining in the nation during an epidemic is an “accompanying obligation,” Deputy Minister of Labor Liu Shih-hao (劉士豪) said.
Photo: CNA
In addition to revising work rules and issuing announcements, it is most important for employers and employees to have a mutual understanding, he said.
International travel is a personal freedom with which companies cannot interfere, Liu said, but added that that changes when the situation involves the job or the employee’s “accompanying obligations.”
The legal basis for “accompanying obligations” is the principle of good faith cited in Article 148 of the Civil Code, he said.
While the employer’s “accompanying obligation” is to ensure worker safety and prevent accidents, employees must avoid infringing on the employer’s property and affecting operations, he added.
Separately yesterday, Academia Sinica announced that it would no longer approve official travel to countries or regions for which a level 3 travel advisory has been issued.
It also strongly warned against unnecessary travel to countries or regions under a level 2 advisory.
Organizers of international conferences have been notifying the institute of cancelations or postponements due to the pandemic, it said.
The Keystone Symposia and the Fulbright Association conference, originally scheduled to be held in Taipei in May and October respectively, are some of the events that have been affected, it added.
The Ministry of Science and Technology yesterday also announced that official overseas travel by its staff has been suspended.
Regarding personal travel, the ministry said that it has been forwarding the Central Epidemic Command Center’s latest recommendations to staff.
The ministry on Monday said that it had asked staff to refrain from all nonessential overseas travel.
The National Applied Research Laboratories, a part of the ministry, has banned all overseas travel — both personal and official — by its staff, although special cases would need to be reported and approved, the ministry added.
The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) on Friday last week also banned its personnel from visiting countries listed as the worst hit by COVID-19.
MOI personnel are banned from traveling to countries under a level 3 travel advisory, while those who want to travel to countries with level 1 and level 2 warnings need to get permission from their superiors, it said in a statement.
Personnel of MOI-affiliated agencies, such as police and fire departments, are not subject to the ban and if they plan to travel overseas, they must obtain prior approval from their unit based on that unit’s rules, it added.
Travelers arriving in Taiwan from any of the countries under a level 3 advisory are required to undergo 14-day self-quarantine.
The MOI said that it is devising a three-phase plan to separate officials of different levels to work at various locations to ensure smooth operations should the outbreak worsen.
The Directorate-General of Personnel Administration said that it would not forbid public servants from leaving the nation, but it has asked every agency’s personnel department to carefully assess whether their staff should be allowed to make overseas trips.
Some local governments, including the Taichung, Tainan and Keelung, as well as Penghu and Yunlin counties, have prohibited their employees from traveling abroad, while New Taipei City has asked teachers not to visit high-risk countries.
Additional reporting by Chien Hui-ju
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