Working at the workplace

How to work safely?

• Be aware of the risks and dangers that come with your work and take responsibility for lowering them in order to stay healthy. Suggest ways your employer can organise the work more safely, as you know the specificities and possibilities of your work the best.
• Follow the hygiene rules by regularly washing your hands under warm running water and use disinfectants (e.g. in meeting or break rooms).

• Prefer virtual channels for participating in meetings. 
• Air the rooms and clean your equipment and work surfaces regularly.
• If your work requires assignments abroad that are unavoidable or you decide to go on a holiday trip, get to know the rules in force at your destination and what kind of restrictions you have to follow when you return. Make an agreement with the employer regarding the organisation of your work after returining form abroad in case you are travelling to a high-risk country.
• Use the personal protective equipment that the working place risk analysis conducted by the employer prescribes, e.g. a mask, a visor, gloves etc.

What to do if I get sick?

• Do not go to work when sick!
• If you get sick at work, let your supervisor know immediately and go home.
• If you get sick outside of work, stay home.
• Contact your family doctor who will make the decision about COVID-19 diagnosis, need for testing and a certificate of incapacity for work.
• In order to limit the spread of COVID-19, it is important that you also inform your employer if the COVID-19 diagnosis is confirmed.
• Think through who you were in close contact with before getting sick and up to two days before that, and which equipment or rooms you used. The Health Board informs the close contacts and the employer can organise the cleaning and disinfecting of the work rooms.

What to do if I am a close contact?

• You are a close contact if you are in contact with a person who has COVID-19 for at least 15 minutes and closer than 2 meters. A sick person is infectious up to two days before and up to ten days after the symptoms occur.
• If you are a close contact, stay home in self-isolation for five days and monitor your health condition.
• If you are a close contact and have to stay in self-isolation, inform your employer of this and come to an agreement on whether you take a certificate for sick leave, are working from home or using your vacation time. Upon agreement with your employer you can change the time of your annual leave.

Self-isolation is not obligatory for close contacts who:

• are vaccinated (or equated to a vaccinated person) and have received a booster dose, and no more than a year has passed from the shot
• have completed the initial course of COVID-19 vaccinations and no more than nine months (270 days) have passed since the last dose
• are equated to a vaccinated person (i.e. have recovered from the disease and received one dose of the vaccine) and no more than nine months (270 days) have passed since the last shot
• have recovered from COVID-19 within the past six months (180 days) and been declared healthy by a doctor.

Staying in self-isolation is also recommended for people who are vaccinated or recovered from COVID-19 but are living with a person who has been infected. 

Is it possible to refuse going on assignments abroad?

• The decision about the unavoidability of assignments abroad and the assessment of the risks related to that has to be done by the employer.
• You have the right to refuse or suspend work that endangers the health of yourself or other persons, or makes it impossible to follow the requirements of environmental safety.
• Thus, if you find that you are endangering your life or health by going on an assignment abroad, you have the right to refuse to go.
• If you are sent to an assignment abroad, your employer has to ensure that you have the necessary personal protective equipment (e.g. a mask, disinfectants etc.) while you are doing the assignment abroad. Follow the rules in force at the destination while on secondment.