How to handle precautionary isolation and confinement after two years of pandemic?

In Colombia, the current situation has been taking important turns in terms of prevention and measures to counteract the spread of Covid-19 and its various variants and to comply with the national government's guidelines, depending on the business sector.

All companies and individual employers, almost without exception, have faced economic challenges, in the interpretation and implementation of administrative and regulatory measures for their cases. In particular, the policies implemented for the proper management of their human resources during the pandemic have been altered constantly with mandatory quarantines, increase of contagion levels and comorbidities.

Hence, the massive vaccination plan has been modifying many of the current work situations and regulations, allowing planning and giving more clarity regarding the workforce that is active in face-to-face services, semi-presential or in virtual modalities, and most important, generated the flexibilization of National Government policies regarding isolation in Colombia.

In this sense, although through the Circular 004 of 2022 issued jointly by the Ministry of Health and Social Protection and the Ministry of Labor, the period of isolation of those symptomatic and asymptomatic persons was made more flexible, the issuance of this guideline has not solved a clear problem for employers since the beginning of the pandemic and that has been increasing with the continuity of the pandemic.

The circumstances surrounding this labor dynamics, for example, related to isolation restrictions in which there is not a formal sick leave certificate in favor of employees, or even the possibility that employees have to access medical care in a timely manner, to justify their absence to the employer and define in specific cases depending on the symptoms of prevention measures should be taken to counteract the risks of safety and health at work.

Thus, it is clear that when an employee submits an isolation order, it may well be due to a contact with a person whose result is positive for Covid-19 (even if asymptomatic) and/or for having some symptoms related to this disease, being the usual procedure that the isolation order is issued, but not a sick leave certificate that regardless of its origin can be recharged to the Social Security Health System.

So, although the National Government, through Circular 004 issued this year, ratifies the principle of solidarity and comprehensive care of health and the community, it is urgent to find a balance between employees and employers under this principle and the possibility of having alternatives to reduce the labor costs of the workforce to ensure the maintenance of employment, especially in companies whose resources are not sufficient to ensure without further affection the extra costs generated by such isolations, especially when they occur repeatedly.

In regard to unforeseen circumstances related to the management of preventive isolation scenarios,  medical leave payments and the measures to be implemented, it is advisable that the employer maintains compliance with their biosafety protocols as mentioned in Resolution 350 of 2022, without forgetting that each business sector and employer can take a step forward in the implementation of these protocols, designing them according to their circumstances and needs in order to prevent contagion and the economic sustainability of the business.

To conclude and not to leave any aspect out in the strategy of prevention, care and corporate sustainability, it is important to remember the importance of information on the vaccination of their workers and that vaccination for people who provide services to the public is mandatory, so it is necessary to identify internally the positions that have to comply with this requirement.