This article was first published on DollarsAndSense.sg.
After almost two years of travel restrictions, the expansion of the vaccinated travel lanes (VTLs) was music to the ears of travel-starved Singaporeans. As of 19 October 2021, a total of 10 countries (Brunei, Canada, Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, United Kingdom and United States) have opened up VTLs with Singapore with an additional VTL with South Korea to start on 15 November 2021.
On 22 October, a Singapore-Australia travel arrangement was also mooted as Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison signalled that fully vaccinated travellers may be able to travel by end of the year.
For many Singaporeans, this comes just in time to plan an end-of-year holiday and use up accumulated annual leavess after missing out on an overseas holiday last year. In particular, healthcare workers are now allowed to travel overseas after MOH lifted the suspension on overseas leave application for all healthcare workers on 19 October 2021.
Yet, employees may need to consider that they will require more annual leaves than they may be planning for.
Leisure Travel To Countries Not On VTL Arrangements Is Possible (If You Are Fully Vaccinated)
Currently, according to MOH’s travel advisory (as of 19 August 2021), fully vaccinated residents may travel overseas to other countries/ regions that are not included in the higher risk countries/ regions, i.e. Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Unvaccinated or partially unvaccinated residents are advised to defer all forms of travel except for:
- Travel to Category (I) countries (currently this is only China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan)
- Overseas studies
- Overseas employment
- Essential travel for business, official and work purposes under Green/Fast Lane arrangements and the Periodic Commuting Arrangement
- Compassionate reasons
- Medical treatment that cannot be reasonably received in Singapore
- Attendance of legal/ contractual obligations in country of residence
The purpose of an employee’s travel matters because it affects the treatment of leave and salary arrangements when you return to Singapore.
If Employees Travel For Non-Work Reasons, The Stay-Home-Notice (SHN) Period May Become A Point Of Contention
Fully vaccinated employees travelling to non-Category (I) countries or on non-VTL arrangements, would need to serve at least 7 days of SHN upon their return to Singapore.
For fully remote workers, returning from a country without VTL may not be an issue because they can continue to work remotely as they serve out their Stay-Home-Notice (SHN) of 7 or 10 days.
However, for workers who are unable to work remotely, travelling for non-work purposes can be problematic if they travel to a country that requires them to serve SHN on their return. This is because MOM’s guidelines don’t cover leave arrangements for personal travels.
For most companies, employees would be required to plan their holidays, taking sufficient annual leave to cover this period of SHN when they are unable to work in-person. Depending on what your policies are as an employer and the nature of work your employee is doing, some flexibility for remote working arrangements can be put in place while employees serve out their SHN. However, employees who are non-remote workers, employers would need to decide if your employees came to you with such a proposal.
Employees who are travelling to a country that requires them to serve quarantine upon arrival, could also potentially mean spending 2 weeks of leave allowance just on quarantine and SHN, without factoring in your actual travel itinerary.
Employees Are Covered Under Paid Sick Leave If They Are Diagnosed With COVID-19 After Their Return
In the unfortunate situation that employees test positive for COVID-19 after their return to Singapore, they should not be penalised for contracting the virus, based on MOM’s guidelines.
Employees are entitled to paid sick leave during treatment, up to their contractual or Employment Act limits (which is 14 days of paid sick leave a year, without hospitalisation or with hospitalisation, up to 60 days a year in total, including the 14 days). If they have already used up their paid hospitalisation leave, employers may place them on no-pay leave or grant additional paid hospitalisation leave.
Read Also: Medical Benefits That Businesses Have To Legally Provide For Their Employees In Singapore
Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents (PRs)’ COVID-19 Treatment Are Covered Under Government Subsidies And MediShield Life / Integrated Shield Plan
Singaporean (Citizens and PRs) employees who are travelling overseas can be assured that if they require COVID-19 treatment, they would still be eligible to receive subsidised healthcare at public hospitals and use their MediShield Life or Integrated Shield Plan coverage to pay for treatment. This applies even if employees travel for personal reasons.
For S Pass and Work Permit Holders, the employer is responsible for any COVID-19 treatment cost, even if the employee travelled overseas for personal reasons. Other pass holders such as Long-Term Pass Holders and Employment Pass Holders are responsible for their own COVID-19 treatment costs.
Read Also: Guide To Work Passes In Singapore: Work Permits, S Pass and Employment Pass (EP)
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