Legal advice: 'Vulnerable people depend on a manager's goodwill'
"Can I be required to teach at school if I'm concerned about my health?" It is a frequently asked question. The answer is that healthy teachers will basically come to school and it is good to discuss concerns with your employer.
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You can often come up with acceptable solutions together, is the experience of John Arts (53), lecturer in history at Over Betuwe College in Elst. Like his daughter, he has COPD lung disease and his girlfriend has an autoimmune disease. “It is only through corona that we realize how vulnerable we are. Contamination with the virus can have serious consequences for us, even death is a real danger. ”
He stayed at home for the summer, now he goes back to school. “Teaching is my calling. Fortunately, I have a good employer who asks me what I need to feel safe. A red / white ribbon, mudguards and open windows and doors, smaller classrooms: it's all there with us. In addition, I only teach in the lower years, where the risk of infection is smaller than with older students. I am aware that 100 percent safe is not possible. I feel reasonably safe, but I am not really carefree in the classroom. ”
Protest
As a sector consultant and manager at the AOb he also regularly hears stories about teachers who feel pressured to come to work. The comments in the AObsurvey among three thousand members last summer confirm this picture. 'I'm sixty and belong to the risk group, but only seventies and over can stay at home. My husband has a chronic condition that weakens his immune system,' writes a teacher, for example, 'but because this condition is not on the list, he also has to go to school. We now believe that the question is not of we get corona, but wanneer'. Another: 'Those who objected, someone with a seriously ill wife, with a daughter without an immune system or even sick: they all work. There was no point in protesting. ' Teacher John Arts continues: “A school leader even ignored the advice of the health and safety doctor and ordered someone with an autoimmune disease to come to school. It is outrageous that an employer results seem to take precedence over the well-being of its workforce. This is about human lives! ”
The RIVM now states that staying at home - also for people from risk groups - is no longer necessary now that the virus is better under control. The new protocol for secondary education states that employees who themselves belong to a risk group, or who have close relatives in that category, come to work, provided it concerns a controllable environment. The employee has the choice to deviate from this after consultation with the employer. “I would have liked to see the text formulated more firmly, because it is now interpretable,” says Arts. “Vulnerable people are less well protected and depend on the goodwill of their manager.”
Working Conditions Act
However, employers have a duty of care for a safe environment under the Working Conditions Act. Understaffing is not an argument for having to come to school anyway. So always discuss your concerns with your employer, the advises AOb. If you get into a discussion, it is wise to consult the company doctor and, if necessary, contact the AOb to record.
In connection with the corona virus, a new addition to the Working Conditions Catalog was published for secondary education in September. In a AObwebinar explains Rick van Workum of Voion what high school employers should do to prevent corona infections among their employees.
Please note, this webinar was recorded in mid-September, the last urgent advice from the cabinet to wear mouth masks in the corridors and auditorium in secondary education is not discussed in this webinar.
More answers to questions related to corona and working in education?
