Employer forcing quarantine period after travel to unrestricted location

markjim1980

Holiday to France booked since end of 2019, booked and accepted by employer in Jan 2020. My company has its own travel policy enforcing quarantine after international travel (overriding government advice). My employer's advice since the lockdown began is that after international travel employees should quarantine for 14 days and work remotely if possible. I was continually encouraged to take annual leave during lockdown so my employer did not face a large amount of holiday requests at the back end of the year, so I did as encouraged and continued taking my annual leave. I then found myself 11 days away from going on holiday when I was verbally told the policy had changed (and told it was also communicated in an email a few weeks previous, but nobody can find evidence of that) and I would have to cover the quarantine period from my own annual leave pot (of which I do not have enough left to cover it, so would have to take unpaid leave). I have been working from home since May (last day on site was 18th May), I am classified as a home worker for the foreseeable future so I am able to work from home, but I’m being told I’m not allowed to work from home during my quarantine period in the interest of fairness to people who cannot work from home.

 

Is this a reasonable decision?

bradders1983

Simply tell your boss you are not going abroad. at the end of the day it is none of their business.

mattyprice4004

markjim1980 said:

but I’m being told I’m not allowed to work from home during my quarantine period in the interest of fairness to people who cannot work from home.

 

Is this a reasonable decision?

Well that's rather silly - different areas of work and departments have advantages and pitfalls; that isn't your fault. 
I'd be having words about this - do they just let the people who can't work from home do nothing, as asking them to commute 'would be unfair to the others' who can work from home too? 

sharpe106

No need to tell them what you are doing on your holiday, if you really want to just say your off somewhere in UK now problem solved. 

ic

Sounds barmy to me.  An employer can dictate when you take holidays, as long as they give enough notice (I'm not sure what).  I don't believe they can force you to take unpaid leave.  Given they already know you're going abroad, I doubt there's much point lying and saying its not happening if it will - that'll just destroy trust between you.
I expect somebody in middle management is mis-translating the companies policies.  Try talking to HR and find somebody who can see reason.  At the end of the day, you do a job and the company needs you to do it.  Forcing you to sit at home in suposed fairness to others sounds detrimental to the success of the company.

Westin

The company my wife works for (a large energy provider) has also come out with this ‘rule’ telling staff that they need to self quarantine at home for 14 days after returning from any overseas travel and to take this as annual leave. Bizarrely she has been working at home for them since mid-March so it is not like she would even be in an environment to spread the virus should she have it.  Staff are perhaps naturally challenging this and hoping this directive is one that gets changed.  Not that we are currently planning an overseas trip in the short term but I have told her that she just shouldn’t mention where we go on holiday should we try to get away in the late summer or autumn.  

Thrugelmir

No doubt that the staff who are challenging the decision are the ones who aren't taking the situation seriously.  Might be a factor when the employer decides who to make redundant. As would stand out as not being team players. 

lisyloo

If you’re going to lie about where you are going (and I have some sympathy with that position), make sure you don’t put any holiday photos or posts on Facebook or similar.

bradders1983

Thrugelmir said:

No doubt that the staff who are challenging the decision are the ones who aren't taking the situation seriously.  Might be a factor when the employer decides who to make redundant. As would stand out as not being team players. 

Oh come on, its a silly decision especially if people are working at home anyway. 

You are more at risk travelling to Blackburn than going to Barcelona.

epm-84

ic said:

 I don't believe they can force you to take unpaid leave. 

They can't, especially considering some foreign countries have fewer cases of COVID-19 than certain regions of England.  Are they going to say someone who visits family in Leicestershire or Lancashire needs to self-isolate for 14 days as well?  If not they have invented a policy which makes no sense and consequently they need to pay the employee's wages if they want them to not work for two weeks.

Thrugelmir

bradders1983 said:

Thrugelmir said:

No doubt that the staff who are challenging the decision are the ones who aren't taking the situation seriously.  Might be a factor when the employer decides who to make redundant. As would stand out as not being team players. 

Oh come on, its a silly decision especially if people are working at home anyway. 

You are more at risk travelling to Blackburn than going to Barcelona.

More at risk where people fail to adhere to very basic instructions. The booze being one of the major issues. Easier to have a rule that applies equally to everyone than attempt to be selective. As always it's the few idiots that spoil it for everyone else. 
The cost of closure to the business will be on managements minds.