Combating COVID-19 is a collective effort that all of us have a responsibility for. You will find below and on the intranet today's rules and recommendations. These measures are aimed at slowing down contamination. They must ensure the safety of our sites and preserve the health of our employees, with particular attention to the most vulnerable, while minimizing the impact of the epidemic on the Group's business. It is everyone's duty to ensure strict compliance with these measures as well as with all regulations dictated by the government and public health officials.
General rules
- If you are sick with any of the symptoms: stay at home and ask a doctor's advice.
- If you are in a group at risk (+60, health problems (respiratory, heart, diabetes, chemotherapy…): work from home.
- Apply strictly all sanitation rules.
- Limit physical meetings, avoid physical gatherings with more than 5 colleagues. Cancel all physical gatherings that are not business-essential. Do not attend business events with large crowds in confined spaces.
- Stay informed of local governments' guidelines or rules & follow them strictly!
- Wash your hands very regularly for 20-30 seconds with soap, especially after public transport. If you don't have the possibility to wash your hands, use a hand sanitizer.
- On voluntary basis, monitor people's temperature at your office' entrance. This can be done with infrared measurement.
- All project sites are required to inform their workers and subcontractors about these rules.
Travel & Commute
- All business travel is stopped.
- BESIX considers all countries of the world as banned for the moment. Trips between countries are stopped (except if you travel by car, if borders are not closed and if local authorities still allow it).
- We urge you all to stop private travel. Please remember that most medical insurance (eg. Belgium, International) doesn't cover any costs if you are willingly travelling to an area of epidemic. At this moment in time, this concerns almost the entire world.
- If you are currently coming back from travel, business or private related, you must follow a strict mandatory quarantining of 14 calendar days at home.
- Try to limit travelling in public transport, or keep sufficient distance.
- In case you have an issue commuting to work with public transport, try teleworking or take holiday.
Office staff in Europe
- All office staff in Europe are required to maximize telework.
- If you don't have the possibility to telework due to connectivity issues or work requirements, and if you are not sick, you can come to work provided you applied all the sanitary measures.
- For requesting teleworking, follow the usual procedure (request via the system or directly to N+1). All managers are required to maximize their service into telework.
- Hours of telework are flexible. Make sure you finish your tasks, but the company allows you to shift your working hours partially to accommodate taking care of sick family members or children at home.
- Interact regularly with your colleagues to ensure efficiency & teamwork.
- For all other countries: we strongly advise to do the same.
Specific guidelines for Belgium
- Unemployment rules in Belgium: we will keep you posted if new rules are developed on unemployment for force majeure.
- For blue-collar workers in Belgium:
- We try to keep the projects running as much as possible.
- If workers are forced to stay at home because their site has closed down, they will be in economical unemployment.
- If workers decide for themselves to stay at home, they need to register a medical leave with doctor's notice when they are sick or holiday leave. - Closure of schools in Belgium:
- You can telework with shifting hours (eg. start early, late at night). You still have the obligation of working 8h a day. - If impossible to telework and you need to be at home to care for your children, you need to make personal arrangements (paid leave, unpaid leave, …).
What to do if you are sick (any symptoms, not only COVID-19 symptoms)
- Stay at home and inform your doctor.
- Follow the strict advice of your doctor.
- Inform your N+1 and your People/HR department.
- Make a reference list of the colleagues/external contacts you were in contact with and send it to your People Department. These people will be informed to take the appropriate action.
- Make sure that you inform your N+1 so that he/she informs your department and team with whom you were in direct contact (shared office, shared breaks during office hours, colleagues you had meetings with, …).
- For the people who have been in direct contact with you:
- White collars: they all start teleworking for 7 calendar days. If they show no symptoms after this period, they can return to work.
- Blue collars: they stay at home during 7 calendar days and if possible put under economical unemployment. If they show no symptoms after this period, they can return to work. - This process can be repeated multiple times (each time a colleague falls ill).
- Ask your N+1 to make sure your office is sanitized.
- Return to work only when your doctor tells you it's okay to return to work.
- When you return to work, keep applying the sanitation rules strictly for one month. You could still be contagious.
What to do if you suffer from COVID-19 and this has been confirmed by your doctor
- Do not come to work until 2 weeks (14 calendar days) after the end of all your symptoms.
- Follow the strict advice of your doctor.
- Inform your N+1 and your People/HR department.
- Make a reference list of the colleagues/external contacts you were in contact with and send it to your People Department. These people will be informed to take the appropriate action.
- Your whole team or project site goes into a 7-day quarantine:
- White collars: they all start teleworking for 7 calendar days. If they show no symptoms after this period, they can return to work.
- Blue collars: they stay at home during 7 calendar days and if possible put under economical unemployment. If they show no symptoms after this period, they can return to work. - This process can be repeated multiple times (each time a colleague falls ill).
- Ask your N+1 to make sure your office is sanitized.
- When you return to work, keep applying the sanitation rules strictly for one month. You could still be contagious.
What to do if someone in your team suffers from COVID-19 and this has been confirmed by a doctor
- Inform your N+1 and your People/HR department.
- Make sure that you inform your N+1. He/She informs the department and team who were in direct contact with the infected colleague.
- Your whole team or project site goes into a 7-day quarantine:
- White collars: they all start teleworking for 7 calendar days. If they show no symptoms after this period, they can return to work.
- Blue collars: they stay at home during 7 calendar days and if possible put under economical unemployment. If they show no symptoms after this period, they can return to work. - This process can be repeated multiple times (each time a colleague falls ill).
- Ask your N+1 to make sure his/her workplace is sanitized.
What to do if someone in your personal social circles suffers from COVID-19 and this has been confirmed
- Inform your N+1 and your People/HR department.
- Make a reference list of the colleagues/external contacts you were in contact with and send it to your People Department. These people will be informed to take the appropriate action.
- Make sure that you inform your N+1 so that he/she informs your department and team with whom you were in direct contact. They must go into quarantine for 7 calendar days and telework (white collars) or stay at home as economically unemployed if possible (blue collars). If they show no symptoms after this period, they can return to work.
What to do if you are showing symptoms of illness at work
- Isolate yourself until you can leave the workplace in the best way. Avoid coming into contact with anyone.
- Inform your N+1 and your People/HR department.
- Call your doctor. Do not go to the waiting room at your doctor's office or to the emergency services.
- If your doctor tells you it might be COVID-19 or confirms you are suffering from COVID-19, follow the steps detailed above.
- If your doctor tells you it is not COVID-19, follow the steps detailed above.
Guidelines for expats
- All home leaves whereby travel is required are suspended due to the BESIX travel ban. However, colleagues who want to return home to their family from their country of assignment can do if the countries they are travelling to and from still allow this. Most probably there will be a risk of no return to site as cross-borders travelling is gradually stopped by many authorities.
- On holiday in the country of assignment can happen, as usual, taking into account local situation and recommendations.
- You should telework if possible. If teleworking is impossible, you are required to take up leave. If you have insufficient leave days, you will be put in standby.
- All projects should maximize the possibility of teleworking.
- If home leave is suspended, employees will not lose the accumulated non-taken leave days. It will be possible to take those leave days after the Corona-crisis (or repaid in case of force majeure).