Pay Implications for New International Travel Quarantine Rules
From 8 June 2020, the UK introduced the requirement to self-isolate for 14 days upon return from most overseas travel.
The requirement to self-isolate requires those entering the country to remain at their address for 14 days without leaving to go to work or school. The requirement is mandatory and those who fail to comply will commit a criminal offence.
The new travel quarantine rules have practical implications for employers. Staff who travel abroad face working remotely, or otherwise being absent for two weeks upon their return. We recommend communicating with staff now in order to spread awareness of the new rules, manage expectations around pay during travel quarantine, and discuss individual travel plans.
Are Staff Entitled to Be Paid During International Travel Quarantine?
Where it is possible for staff to work from home during a period of mandatory travel quarantine, this should be facilitated and they should receive full pay during the quarantine period.
Where an employee cannot work from home, there is not currently an automatic entitlement to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) during travel quarantine. The entitlement to SSP will kick in either:
- where the employee tests positive for COVID-19 or has been in contact with someone with COVID-19 or
- where the employee has COVID-19 symptoms, lives with someone with symptoms, is shielding due to an underlying medical condition, or has been told to self-isolate via a notification from the Test and Trace system.
Where an employee is required to quarantine following international travel, and where working from home is not possible and no SSP entitlement is triggered, it may be appropriate to agree the time spent in quarantine is treated as unpaid leave.
Alternatively, if the employee has sufficient annual leave remaining, they may choose to take a longer period of annual leave in order to cover their quarantine, or the employer could serve notice under Regulation 15 Working Time Regulations 1998 to require the employee to use holiday in this way. Where the employer wishes to serve notice in this way, the double notice rule will apply so that the employer would need to give a month's notice for the employee to take two weeks' leave.
Individual Travel Plans
It is sensible to communicate with staff now in order to discuss individual travel plans. Annual leave may already be booked, in which case employers can ask staff to inform them of international travel plans. The approval process for future annual leave requests could include a conversation about travel plans and how any quarantine period would be treated.