Contract termination due to coronavirus

[tando]

Continuing the discussion from Coronavirus crisis main thread - March:

@cake

According to a friend, who claimed he signed a form with his school’s lawyer that would allow his school to fire him if he went into quarantine or got the virus and recovered. He said there is a law about to be passed that would allow employers to fire teachers (and other workers) if they have the virus or go into quarantine and recover with no repercussions.

is this kind of contract legally valid? @yyy

Is this if you go to abroad?

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If it is better, please move this post to the losing a job thread.

Losing a Job Because of COVID-19?

Seeing how several of us foreigners here in Taiwan are teachers in both the public schools and in the private sector, a concern has crossed my mind. Even though Taiwan is handling the COVID-19 situation well, there are some people who speculate that it will get worse in the near future. If it does get worse, a lot of sectors will be negatively effected, such as the airline industry and the loses in the stock markets that will result in companies loosing millions of dollars. When companies listed…

[tando]

Anyway, continue here.

Coronavirus crisis main thread - March

The responsible thing to do is get tested, or at least report in and let the hospital decide. Can’t deny that I have a pretty big fear of losing my job if tested positive. Imagine being the person responsible for the closure of an entire school and the stigma if recovered and return to work a couple weeks later. Can employers fire someone for testing positive? This is a legit fear / concern. I’ve got kids, a family that depends on me.

As of Mar. 18, it is illegal to fire employees due to catching the coronavirus.

https://www.mol.gov.tw/topic/44761/45003/45004/44769/44809/

武漢肺炎疫情升溫》台北市勞動局：員工若感染，雇主應依法給假，否則罰款100萬！-風傳媒

武漢肺災疫情下的勞工權益保障：有薪防疫假與隔離補助 - The News Lens 關鍵評論網

[yyy]

They may have been thinking of this:

Teachers banned from travel to any country

This might be in or get moved to another of the big threads, but I’m probably not the only one who avoids those and this is important for a specific group. The last article from CNA only refers to Taipei and NTaipei. There is nothing about how this is enforced and the premiere didn’t respond to a question about punishment, but rumors around the web say returning teachers or students will be automatically self-quarantined even if the country they travel to isn’t on a restricted list. It’s…

[tando]

@yyy

They may have been thinking of this:

they may, but “you can be fired if you travel abroad in this situation” and “you can be fired if you get the virus” are different.

[yyy]

I just saw the MOL’s website has a Q&A section. There’s probably more info here, but there’s a lot to read.
https://www.mol.gov.tw/topic/44761/45003/