Employees on quarantine can't be sacked for absence from work

A company employee was fired for "being absent from work for three days" because his resident community forced him into quarantine after his return from a business trip, triggering a controversy on social networking sites.

The resident of Shenyang, capital of Liaoning province in Northeast China, was required to undergo a 14-day quarantine, as mandated by Shenyang's novel coronavirus epidemic prevention and control policy, after returning from a business trip to another province. But his company insisted on terminating his contract, forcing him to initiate arbitration against the company to safeguard his legal rights and interests.

The company drew flak online for its act of dismissing an employee without a valid reason.

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security had on Jan 24 prohibited enterprises from terminating contracts of laborers who are unable to perform normal duty due to epidemic prevention and control measures; it also asked employers to pay employees during the quarantine period.

On Feb 10, the Legislative Affairs Commission of the National People's Congress, China's top legislative body, said epidemic prevention and control measures should be regarded as force majeure in fulfilling a contract.

The Shenyang resident's business trip was necessitated by his company, and the quarantine by his resident community. So what prevented him from carrying out his normal duties is force majeure, making his dismissal by the company for "being absent from work" totally untenable.

The dismissal decision not only undermines the employee's legal rights and interests, but also has a negative social impact.

Many enterprises are facing great economic and operational hardships because of the novel coronavirus outbreak, but it should not make them lay off those following epidemic prevention and control measures for "being absent from work".

Such illegal practices should be curbed, to not only safeguard laborers' legal rights but also maintain social stability during this period.