Travel To Spain – Employment Consequences

The Government announced on Saturday 25th July that Spain was being taken off the “travel corridor list” and that travellers arriving in to England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland from Spain after midnight that day would need to self-isolate for 14 days.

Those already in Spain would be permitted to stay in Spain for the remainder of their holidays but would be required to self-isolate for 14 days on their return. From 26th July onwards, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is advising against all but essential travel to Spain.

As with the other countries outside the travel corridor list, there are limited exceptions to these rules for those maintaining essential supply chains, national infrastructure and other essential Government work.

There are fines ranging from £1,000 to £3,200 for non-compliance.

Spain removed from travel corridor list – the impact of travel quarantine rules on employers

These rules will mean that employees who are currently on holiday in Spain or who go to Spain while these instructions are in place will not be able to attend their workplace for 14 days when they return to the UK. Employers are understandably concerned about the impact this could have on their organisations. Employees are seeking clarity on where this leaves them in terms of work, pay and holiday allowance.

Currently, where employees are required to self-isolate due to:

• Developing coronavirus symptoms;
• Someone in their household developing coronavirus symptoms;
• Being alerted by the NHS test and trace that they have come in to contact with someone infected with the coronavirus; or
• Because they are clinically extremely vulnerable and required to shield (up to 1st August),

Employees should be permitted to work from home if this is possible or should be deemed as sick (and therefore entitled to contractual or statutory sick pay).

Post-travel self-isolation is not included within the guidance on sick pay for employees who cannot work due to the coronavirus.  This means that unless employees are ill, they will not be entitled to statutory sick pay (SSP) and the employer will not be entitled to reclaim any pay under the SSP rebate scheme.

The options are therefore, that the employer allows the employee to work from home (perhaps giving them different work to enable them to do so), the employer permits the employee to take additional holiday (subject to allowances) or agrees other leave (paid or unpaid).

Advice to employers

The Government has asked employers to be “sympathetic” to employees who are now required to quarantine but there are no legal rules on this. Where employees can work from home without any detriment to the employer, or are already working from home, probably the employer will not have any objection to them doing so for their quarantine period.

For employees who cannot work from home, employers are not obliged to arrange work for them to do from home or to pay them for their absence beyond their holiday period.

For employees that have yet to travel, our advice to employers is that they should be actively communicating with all staff about the potential consequences of their travel plans. It is perfectly reasonable for employers to say that if the travel quarantine requirements are still in place then employees will need to request additional holiday or a period of unpaid leave to accommodate this. Employers will have their usual discretion whether to allow this or not and this may well breach their usual maximum holiday durations.

Employers can also communicate that they would consider any absence post-holiday periods to be unauthorised where employees have travelled abroad in full knowledge that this will mean they cannot attend work for 14 days thereafter.

Employers will also need to be careful that they are not seen to be encouraging employees to breach the quarantine rules.

Where employers consider this (and requirements to self-isolate following NHS test and trace notifications) to be a significant issue for their organisations then they are advised to formulate their rules and policies now and communicate them clearly to the workforce to avoid ambiguity or misunderstanding further down the line.

Advice to employees

Employees who are currently in Spain should make all efforts to contact their employer and alert them to the situation as soon as possible to seek to agree an approach to their quarantine period.

Employees who have plans to travel to Spain before 9th August 2020 should consult their employer before they travel if they decide they are still going to go and seek to agree how their quarantine period will be dealt with.

Employees who have plans to travel to Spain after 9th August should also consult their employer so they can factor in the impact of quarantine on their work in deciding whether or not to still travel if the restrictions remain in place.

Employees should be clear that although the Government has asked employers to be sympathetic to employees who are immediately impacted by this measure, there is no legal requirement for employers to be so and the financial reality might dictate otherwise.

Furthermore, employers are much less likely to be sympathetic where the employee is not yet in Spain and has the opportunity to re-arrange their travel.

Employees who have not agreed a plan with their employer before they travel and who then quarantine when they are due back at work, will be absent without authorisation and this can be considered a disciplinary offence.