Frequently asked questions from staff

If you have symptoms and are unable to work, you must inform your line manager of your absence and justify it with a medical certificate to be sent to the HRA.

If you are not ill or have mild symptoms that allow you to work, you must inform your line manager of your absence, check with him or her whether occasional teleworking can be arranged and, if he or she so requests, send a quarantine certificate to the ARH.

First of all, you are invited to inform the university of your positivity via this form, in order to allow internal UCLouvain tracing. The university is thus aware of the epidemiological situation on its sites (by faculty, institute, department, etc.) and can, via a specially trained internal tracer team, ensure the follow-up of contacts within the exclusive framework of its activities at UCLouvain. All of these operations are carried out in compliance with the laws relating to the respect of privacy.

If you are unable to work, a medical certificate must be sent to the ARH. If you are not ill or have mild symptoms that allow you to work, you must inform your line manager of your absence, check with him or her whether occasional teleworking can be set up and, if he or she so requests, send a quarantine certificate to the ARH.

You can send your questions to personnel-sante@uclouvain.be.

The teacher is exempt from wearing a mask provided that a physical distance of at least 3 metres is maintained between him or her and the students and except when moving around the room.

Teachers are advised to wash their hands before and after class with soap in the sanitary facilities, which are thoroughly cleaned twice a day.
Dispensers of hydroalcoholic solution are also placed in the different buildings.
The cleaning of the auditoriums, classrooms, libraries and information rooms, including the shelves and tables, is carried out by the cleaning service every morning.
In the computer rooms, practical training rooms and libraries, paper towel and antistatic cleaner dispensers are installed to clean computer surfaces and keyboards.
In the auditoriums, it is not technically possible for each student to clean his or her tablet between classes (management of flows, management of used paper, compliance with timetables, etc.).
Each student should be advised to respect the basic rules (wearing a mask - respecting the distance - washing hands) and to use and clean regularly the protective underhand (individual and washable) received in Q1.
As regards the auditoriums and computer rooms equipped with a mechanical ventilation system, this has been adapted to meet the needs of a health situation such as the one we are dealing with.

You will find the capacity of the audiences according to health codes as well as their technical characteristics (including their equipment) at the following address: https://intranet.uclouvain.be/fr/myucl/administrations/adpi/auditoires.html. This information is presented by site.

Concerning the audiovisual equipment allowing the retransmission of an activity, all tiered audiences (G) are equipped with the "Poly Studio" system, which allows the course to be filmed for retransmission by teams: the camera automatically focuses on the teacher, but it can also remain in a fixed shot on the blackboard with a simple command. This equipment is be managed by GPLO.  

For any request to carry out a test of the use of the poly studio in a real situation: an email to 8787@uclouvain.be (audience management).

In addition, backpacks containing mobile equipment are available at the faculty reception desk (to be reserved in advance) for lessons given in auditoriums with mobile furniture, flat-bottomed or managed by the faculty. This equipment also allows for the retransmission by teams in good conditions.

Resources and training courses are offered by the Louvain Learning Lab.

As soon as they are registered at the university, but without waiting for their application to be validated by SIC, newly arrived Bac 1 and Master's students will receive a provisional NOMA allowing them to connect to the platforms and thus receive information on the organisation of the courses.

The teacher does not have to do anything; it is the student who has to register for the courses, the Teams classes and the Moodle courses, using the links provided.

Please follow the rules in force.

As this is an unavoidable expense in the context of a professional mission, the amount paid should be reimbursed via an expense account. The proof of expenditure must be attached as usual, together with proof of the mission.

Please follow the rules in force.

If you would like fabric masks, please contact the SIPP by e-mail.

Paper masks are also available through the ACHA service. These masks (type II R) can be obtained at the Lavoisier building in LLN (open from 9 to 12.00 am). They are part of a group purchase organised by the Union Wallonne des Entreprises and meet the COVID 19 sanitary requirements.

They are sold in boxes of 50 pieces at a price of 31.8 € VAT included. For the moment and in order to satisfy the maximum number of people, the order is limited to 5 boxes of 50 pieces.

Wearing a mask is compulsory for teachers except for large class groups of more than 50 students, in auditoriums that allow a distance of 3m from the students.

However, visors are available for teachers who are not in the classroom:

• Have a certificate that does not allow the wearing of a mask
• Wish to wear a visor in an auditorium where the wearing of masks is not mandatory (which allows a distance of 3m from the students)
• Wish to wear a visor in addition to the mask

Visors are available and can be removed:

• At the Lavoisier shop in LLN
• At the central shop in Woluwe 
• At Marc Francq's in Mons
• At Vincent Filleul's in Tournai
• At the secretariat in St-Gilles

The ACHA service can provide you with cleaning or disinfecting solution.

300 5L dispensers have been set up in densely occupied areas, in places where washing with soap and water is not possible (libraries, computer rooms, auditoriums, learning centres, etc.). 5L represents 4000 sprays. Entities are asked to avoid purchasing additional dispensers in a decentralised manner for reasons of supply monitoring, installation costs and fire prevention. Would you like to obtain an additional 5L distributor? You can justify your request at sipp-lln@uclouvain.be. This will be analysed according to the local situation (traffic flow, occupancy density, desired location, possible alternative).

Hand washing or hydro-alcoholic solution?

In general, hand washing with soap and water is to be preferred over the use of hydro-alcoholic gel. After 2 to 3 daily uses, the gel dries the hands and can cause some eczema in people who already have dry skin problems.

Fire prevention

The hydra-alcoholic solution is a flammable product. Preventive measures :

• Do not store several bottles on your premises
• Avoid any hot spot or naked flame
• Move the vials to hermetically sealed containers in retention bins

In case of spillage:

• Try to contain the puddle
• Prevent permanence

In case of fire:

• Call the emergency number
• Make sure the fire doors are closed
• Do not use water
• Use fire extinguishers if you are trained

The use of such gloves gives a false sense of security and one does not wash one's hands any more or less, whereas with the gloved hand one can also touch one's mouth, nose or eyes. You can also touch door handles, taps and other contact surfaces and thus contribute to the spread of the virus.

For these reasons the wearing of gloves is strongly discouraged in the corridors, technical halls and public places of UCLouvain.

If they are to be worn, they are only to be worn for a specific activity, a specific task, for a single use and they must be thrown away directly and systematically after each use.

It should also be noted that, based on current knowledge, on dry paper or cardboard, at an ambient temperature of + or - 20°C and an ambient humidity of 50-60%, the virus does not survive for more than a few hours to 24 hours at the most. The longer durations found in some studies have been measured under ideal heat and humidity conditions for viruses (35-37°C - 70-100% relative humidity), which in principle are not found in UCLouvain premises.

While taking into account the continuity of their entity's or department's activities, staff members may ask their supervisor to use telecommuting or to arrange their work time.

Other possibilities exist, especially for those who do not wish or cannot telework:

• Make exceptional use of compelling leave by contacting remuneration@uclouvain.be (4 days of emergency leave are paid for a full time person).
• Make use of temporary corona unemployment by contacting remuneration@uclouvain.be (this possibility is less advantageous).

Yes, a certificate from UCLouvain is required. Here is a model to be filled out by your supervisor.

Please send an e-mail (a scan or a quality photo of your certificate) to certificats-medicaux@uclouvain.be.

Until June 30, 2022, staff members who receive an invitation for an immunization that takes place during work hours are entitled to take the necessary time off work. Necessary time indicates that it is not a half or full day off work, but only the time needed to receive the vaccine. You must inform your line manager and/or functional manager as soon as possible of the time slot during which you will be vaccinated, in order to minimize disruption to the organization of work. The easiest way to do this is to provide your manager with a copy of the invitation. In the case of a last-minute call-up via the QVAX or Bru-VAX reserve list, you must inform your line manager and/or functional manager directly. It is not possible to be absent if the work in progress does not allow it (e.g. exam supervision, ongoing experiment,...).

Also until June 30, 2022, the worker who accompanies a minor child with whom he/she lives to a vaccination site in order to have this child vaccinated can benefit from a small amount of unemployment (circumstantial leave). The same applies to the worker who accompanies his disabled adult child or a person for whom he is the legal guardian.

Without a certificate of incapacity, you may not be absent for coronavirus screening, such as screening following a high-risk contact or screening in order to obtain a Covid Safe Ticket or to complete a trip. If you do not provide a medical certificate, you lose your right to guaranteed pay.

As an exception, in accordance with CCT no. 160, it is possible, until February 28, 2022 and on a maximum of three occasions, to be absent without having to provide a certificate of incapacity in order to carry out a screening, only if this follows a self-assessment via the online form of the Belgian authorities.

In this case, the online self-assessment system generates a certificate of absence, the effects of which vary according to two scenarios:

• If your function is incompatible with teleworking, you are authorized to be absent from work until the result of the test is obtained, for a maximum of 36 hours from the moment the absence certificate is generated.
• If your position is compatible with telecommuting, you are authorized to be absent from work for the time necessary to perform the screening and you must telecommute until the results are obtained, for a maximum of 36 hours from the time the certificate of absence is generated.

To take advantage of this exceptional measure, you must:

• Inform your supervisor and submit the absence certificate.
• Use the absence from work solely for the purpose of going for screening.
• Conduct the test as soon as possible and at the location where you can reasonably expect to receive the results as soon as possible and that is within a reasonable distance from your location.
• Inform your manager whether or not you can return to work or telework as soon as you know the result of the test. However, you are not required to report the result.

If you feel too ill to be able to (tele)work, you must, according to the usual procedure, provide a certificate of incapacity and you do not have to follow the special procedure described here in order to obtain the guaranteed salary.

Please note that your supervisor should not forward the information to the Human Resources Administration.

UCLouvain's working rules allow administrative and technical staff to carry over a balance of a maximum of 60h48 (8 days) until the end of February of the following year. In view of these circumstances, greater flexibility for taking the 2020 leave for all contract staff (administrative and technical and scientific) is granted. Therefore, as an exception, a deferral of the balance of the leave of a maximum of 76 hours (10 days) for a full time employee will be allowed until the end of the Easter holidays in 2021, i.e. 16 April 2021 inclusive. This balance will be pro-rated for those working part-time.

It will not be allowed to carry over any more leave to 2021 for reasons related to VIDOC-19.
Each manager is asked to ensure that, as a minimum, the remainder of the leave is planned and taken by their team members. Indeed, in these particular times of containment, the balance between work and private life is delicate to achieve. However, it is very important to give yourself time for yourself, to give yourself a moment to recharge your batteries and to disconnect.

As a reminder, as a rule, holidays can be taken in one or more instalments but that the staff member must, for the good organisation of the service, take at least three full weeks, two of which must be consecutive.

Yes, teleworkers are insured, in principle during their working hours, against accidents at work as if they were in the company.

In view of the exceptional circumstances related to Covid-19, the insurers are well aware that the working hours can be adapted to the situation of each worker, for example because of daytime childcare during the day; they should be flexible as regards the burden of proof. Nevertheless, and in order to avoid any discussion, please, as far as possible, inform your manager if you owe a large part of your normal working hours.

Although journeys are limited during this period of confinement, we would like to remind you of the rules concerning journeys: accidents during specific journeys are covered by the occupational accident insurance:

• Teleworkers are taken care of the return journey to and from school/day-care centre as a way to work (time diversion cannot be too different from working hours)
• Teleworkers are paid for the return journey to and from their place of residence to the place where lunch is taken (same rules as for those working on site)

If you are the victim of an accident, a declaration of an accident at work must be made to the UCLouvain insurance department.

UCLouvain does not allow staff members who normally have to work at one of the UCLouvain sites to telework from abroad, except for cross-border commuters.

A listening service is available at 02 761 17 74 from Monday to Friday from 8am to 5pm. By mentioning that you work at UCLouvain and that this is a call within the framework of COVID-19, you can benefit from up to 3 one-hour sessions, with a prevention counsellor in psychosocial aspects and, if necessary, a clinical psychologist. Each person is heard in complete confidentiality and anonymity, if they wish.

You can also, if you wish, talk to a member of the hierarchy or contact :

• the Support Unit of the Human Resources Administration
• the trustworthy person of your choice or the prevention counsellor psychosocial aspects (CPAP) of the external service for prevention and protection at work (SEPPT)
• a member of the Committee for Prevention and Protection at Work (CPPT)
• a member of the trade union delegation