So it seems many schools are handling pay very differently regarding the two week corona virus break for salaried employees. Some schools have paid teachers the salary in full, others half, and many not at all. I’d figure since it’s a salary position, the school should not deduct salary during those two weeks. Is there any law I can qoute stating that salaried employees should be paid in full for the month of February regardless of the break? The only thing I’ve found is that schools can only fail to pay the salary agreed upon if they go bankrupt. Once again this is for salaried workers. Thank you!
You at a public school? You should be receiving your full pay for February. Your contract ends sometime in mid July, when classes will also end, so there’s not technically any extra time that you’re getting off
It gets complicated, of course, if the employer claims the situation is beyond its control due to force majeure (不可抗力).
In this case, the Ministry of Labor has released the following statement:
Summary:
A worker recognized to have contracted “Wuhan fever” for work reasons is entitled to occupational sickness leave and wages, plus worker’s comp in the event of injury, death etc.
A worker who just happens to contract it can use regular sick leave, annual (vacation) leave or personal leave for the duration of quarantine/treatment. (They don’t specify, but I take it to mean the worker can take leave up to the maximum duration already allowed for each type of leave, so the only new thing here is that the MOL considers Covid-19 a valid reason for these types of leave, i.e. the employer has no business refusing to grant leave for this reason.)
Summary:
A worker entering self-quarantine at the request of a disease prevention unit due to suspected but unconfirmed infection may use regular sick leave, personal leave or annual (vacation) leave or may reach an agreement with the employer for adjustment of the work schedule.
If the employer considers the worker to have received a self management (i.e. quarantine) notice, being somewhat doubtful about his/her attendance, and asks the worker not to show up for work, because the employer is delaying acceptance of the services, wages should be paid as usual.
That last part is the key, of course, and (no surprise) it’s a bit oddly worded. Some employers might take it to mean it’s a list of criteria, so as long as they don’t meet all the criteria (e.g. they tell people to stay home even though they know they’re perfectly healthy), they don’t need to pay. I don’t believe that would hold up if push came to shove. The basis of the statement is clearly CC Art. 487 as quoted above.
Summary: If the worker has a family member who contracts or is placed in quarantine because of Covid-19, in addition to the family care leave provisions of the Act of Gender Equality in Employment, the worker may also use personal leave or reach an agreement with the employer for annual (vacation) leave. The employer must not refuse these leave requests or consider them absenteeism for purposes of calculating attendance bonuses etc. (The implication I read into it is that for any type of leave where it says reach an agreement, of course the employer can refuse by making up an excuse, unless an agreement has already been reached.)
And finally:
Summary: The MOL stresses that employers and workers must co-operate in disease prevention, which may include reaching agreements for adjustment of work schedules.
Meanwhile, the most recent news item on the English site is from 2019-4-19.
All this is complicated by the fact that not everyone has the same rights.
A worker (under the Labor Standards Act) is usually but not always an employee (under the Civil Code), and vice-versa. A self-employed person is (theoretically) neither.
The MOL statement confusingly refers to “workers” (勞工) throughout, even though the principle of payment for delayed acceptance of services is from the section of the CC dealing with employees. Teachers at buxibans and some private school teachers are covered by the LSA, i.e. they’re workers.
So to summarize:
If you’re an employee, you should receive payment for work canceled by your employer. I also vaguely recall a similar provision in the LSA (i.e. for workers), but I would need to look it up.
If you’re a worker, you’re entitled to various types of leave (including annual leave after a certain length of work, and including sick leave etc.), with or without pay depending on the type of leave.
Iirc the family care leave provisions of the gender equality law apply to both workers and employees, but for workers it really just creates a subtype of personal leave already stipulated by the Regulations of Leave-Taking of Workers (subsidiary regulation of the LSA), with the condition that the employer can’t refuse to grant personal leave in certain circumstances, but for non-worker employees, this creates the right to 7 days of personal leave per year, if I’m not mistaken.
Also check your contract, of course, as it may give you something better than the minimum legal requirement.
When in doubt, contact a lawyer, the MOL, or the labor department in the city/county where you work.
