Corona proof for study day

Tekst Redactie Onderwijsblad - 11 november 2021 - 2 Minuten om te lezen

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According to the law, the employer is not allowed to ask about the specific content of medical complaints or the cause of an employee's illness. Mieke is therefore not obliged to tell her employer anything about her health. This has not changed during the corona crisis.

Remote location

In Mieke's situation, there is an external location for a study day, so things may be different. The operator of the location is not Mieke's employer and under current regulations he is obliged to check for a corona admission ticket; he has no choice. Mieke does not like this, because in this way her employer still obtains medical information in a detour. But can Mieke refuse to participate in the study day? And what are the consequences?

It is not yet possible to make a decision because there have been no substantive (legal) cases about it

At the moment it is not yet possible to make a clear statement about Mieke's questions, because there have been no substantive (legal) cases about this yet. How this will be responded to will also differ per employer.

Balancing interests

However, employment law is governed by principles of reasonableness and fairness. There is therefore a good chance that in practice this will ultimately come down to a balancing of interests. Does the importance that Mieke attaches to this aspect of her privacy outweigh the employer's interest in Mieke's presence at a study day? This will have to be assessed on a case-by-case basis. In this case, it will be taken into account that in principle her employer does not ask her anything and that the external location is not allowed to share information with the employer due to privacy legislation (GDPR). It will undoubtedly also play a role that requesting a corona admission ticket due to the corona pandemic is currently the prescribed practice.

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