With Covid-19 on the loose, sick leave is nothing to sneeze at

Singapore

YOU'RE coughing, your throat is burning and your head's spinning, but yet you're still at your desk - working, despite the doc certifying you unfit for work.

In recent months, multiple workers in Singapore have clocked in at their workplaces - even after coming down with Covid-19 symptoms.

They included sales personnel at a construction supply firm, an airport baggage screening officer, a part-time waiter, and a market stall owner.

These cases may suggest a need to rethink Singapore's sick leave policy during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"We need to make sure people get the rest they need to recover and also make sure there is no disincentive for seeing a doctor and obtaining a medical certificate (MC)," People's Action Party MP Louis Ng (Nee Soon GRC) told The Business Times.

The extended five-day MC doled out these days - for fevers, coughs, sore throats and runny noses - has been cited as a possible barrier to workers calling in sick.

That's even as the recent Covid-19 patients "have not in any way suggested to the authorities that they continued to work out of concern for their job or income security", as a spokesperson for the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) told BT when contacted.

She added that the ministry has inspected the employers involved, and found that they "do not have any policies that directly or indirectly penalise staff for taking sick leave".

Indeed, the MOM has called the provision and use of sick leave essential in a public health crisis like this.

Legally, staff covered by the Employment Act are entitled to paid outpatient sick leave and paid hospitalisation leave after three months.

Outpatient allowances range from five days, for those who have finished three months of employment, to the full statutory entitlement of 14 days after six months of service.

The MOM spokesperson stressed that it is an offence to deny employees statutory rights such as paid sick leave entitlements, while mandatory Covid-19 safe management measures include ensuring that people who are ill do not enter workplaces.

Toh Hwee Tin, industrial relations director at the National Trades Union Congress, told BT sick workers should see doctors as needed: "It is the responsible thing to do."

All the same, the MOM also noted in a report earlier this month that workers in food and beverage (F&B) services, cleaning and landscaping services, and construction were relatively loath to take sick leave.

"There is usually a high concentration of casual employees in these industries who tend not to have access to paid sick leave and also possibly a reluctance to take it so as not to forgo earnings and/or allowances," it said.

The report added that there are smaller companies in these sectors "where unwell employees may feel obligated to continue working as their absence may inconvenience others".

Even with the MOM finding a share of employees on sick leave that was "disproportionately higher" in H1 2020 than pre-pandemic levels, just 22.2 per cent of F&B staff, 28.2 per cent of cleaners or landscapers and 21.1 per cent of construction workers took outpatient sick leave - against 40.3 per cent of workers overall.

Mr Ng, the MP for Nee Soon East, told BT that some of his constituents have flagged insufficient leave and possible loss of income as concerns.

Workers who have already consumed part of their annual allowance, as well as new hires with less or no sick leave, could be affected by the length of the five-day MC.

Self-employed and own-account workers have also been identified as vulnerable. Own-account workers run their own businesses without employing any other staff. They include taxi and private-hire drivers, as well as insurance and real estate agents.

While prolonged medical leave insurance can protect self-employed workers from loss of income, various policies only kick in after at least five straight days of MC. Daily cash benefits are paid out from the sixth day for some policies, or the eighth for others.

Working parents with limited childcare leave could struggle when their children are given longer MCs for respiratory symptoms, said Workers' Party MP Gerald Giam (Aljunied GRC), citing feedback from constituents.

But could some staff hesitate to take sick leave out of the fear that they will be dinged by their bosses during performance appraisals? Notably, Singapore Airlines used to dock cabin crew members' "incentive points" based on the number of MCs taken for illnesses like coughs and colds. It stopped the practice in 2018.

Granted, the incidence of Covid-19 is relatively low in Singapore for now.

Yet, if cases rise again, infectious disease expert Paul Tambyah said "workers going to work while sick will almost certainly contribute to making the outbreak harder to control".

There's also the risk of spreading other illnesses, such as the stomach flu virus, added Dr Tambyah, the president of the Asia Pacific Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infection.

As such, legislators on both sides of the aisle have come up with proposals for sick leave reform.

Mr Ng suggested temporarily lifting the 14-day statutory cap on outpatient sick leave during the pandemic.

Mr Giam, the policy research head for his party, also suggested own-account workers get "a minimum level of benefits and protections such as insurance and sick leave" too.

Dr Tambyah added that, even though making changes to accepted practices and protocols may seem difficult, "the public health considerations are quite significant".

Leaving home while on MC for acute respiratory symptoms has been an offence since March last year. Violators face fines of up to S$10,000, jail terms of up to six months, or both.

Early on in the pandemic last year, the MOM introduced a Leave of Absence Support Programme that gave employers S$100 a day for each worker affected by leave of absence (LOA) or Stay-Home Notice (SHN) after overseas travel. Self-employed residents were also eligible. But this scheme has been phased out.

Still, the MOM advises employers to treat workers' five-day MC as part of the paid outpatient sick leave allowance under the Employment Act. Companies can also count this towards paid hospitalisation leave entitlements "if they wish to provide more support for their employees".

"If an employee were to have insufficient paid outpatient sick leave in the future, employers are encouraged to be flexible and compassionate and grant additional paid sick leave to the employee," the MOM has stated.

Yet there is no legal requirement for employers to do so, noted Jenny Tsin, joint head of the employment practice at law firm WongPartnership.

She suggested making it compulsory for employers to let their staff take the five-day MC out of their hospitalisation leave entitlements.

Such a move could be "one way to strengthen legal provisions for outpatient sick leave during this Covid-19 pandemic", Ms Tsin added.

But all the sick leave in the world will do workers no good if they are not comfortable applying for it.

"From our conversations with organisations, enhancing statutory outpatient sick leave provisions will only help if companies have the right culture in place," said Monty Sujanani, country manager at recruitment firm Robert Walters, noting that employees have to feel trusted when taking medical leave.

Even in the absence of enhanced statutory provisions, the NTUC's Ms Toh called on employers to be flexible and fair with sick leave during the pandemic.

Some unionised companies already let employees count five-day MCs towards hospitalisation rather than outpatient quotas, she added.

Separately, the MOM spokesperson also noted that prevailing tripartite guidelines require "fair and objective" appraisal systems that take into account employees' "ability, performance and contributions".

Employees who feel that they have been unfairly penalised for taking sick leave can approach the MOM or the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices for advice and help, she reiterated.