COVID-19: Information for staff

From the start of the academic year, all the sanitary facilities at UCLouvain will already be cleaned twice a day. The frequency of cleaning is therefore doubled compared to the situation before COVID.

In each sanitary block, a cleaning solution is made available to users who wish to use it.

At personal workstations, where the distance of 1.5 m can be maintained, the mask can be removed. Personal workstation" means the desk, worktop, fume hood, bench or other equipment at which one usually works, as well as one's seating position in a meeting room.

Some special cases may require specific provisions in terms of the wearing of masks at work. In such cases, the line manager will inform the supervisor of the specific arrangements to be made.

Isolation concerns the person testing positive for VIDOC or showing symptoms suggestive of VIDOC.

Quarantine refers to the untested and asymptomatic person who has had direct high-risk contact with a person who has tested positive for VIDOC. The contact is considered "high risk" if it lasted a cumulative time of 15 minutes or more and at a distance of less than 1.5 metres without wearing a mask for one or both persons. The contact can also be considered "high risk" by the "Coronalert" application. In other cases, the contact is considered "low risk".

For more details, see the Sciensano sheet.

At UCLouvain, teleworking is possible, either on a structural basis through the establishment of a teleworking agreement, or on an occasional basis, subject to the prior agreement of the line manager. The manager can refuse because the function of the staff member does not lend itself to it or because the needs of the department or entity do not allow it.

If you have symptoms, you cannot go to work and you must isolate yourself. You must inform your line manager of your absence and justify it with a medical certificate to be sent to ARH.

You must invite him to see a doctor and to go into isolation. As far as you are concerned, you must not be in quarantine unless, in the specific case where the symptomatic person lives under the same roof, the doctor requests it.

Being "close" is not the relevant criterion for judging what action should be taken. Rather, the nature of the contact should be considered: a person should be placed in quarantine if he or she has had direct high-risk contact with a person who has tested positive (and therefore in isolation). However, contact that is only indirect (contact with a person in quarantine) does not lead to quarantine.

All the "relatives" of a positive person do not therefore necessarily have to be quarantined; only those who have had direct high-risk contact with the positive person should be quarantined.

Warning: living under the same roof as a person who has tested positive is considered by default to be direct high-risk contact. If the relative in question is positive and lives under the same roof as you, you must therefore place yourself in quarantine.

In addition, if you live in the same household as a sick person waiting for test results, quarantine is also recommended immediately. Only in this very special situation is quarantine provided in the event of high-risk contact with a person who is infected with covid 19.

It is not allowed to place yourself in "auto-quarantine" (even if you can identify yourself as a high-risk direct contact). The self-quarantine, which is a unilateral decision not to go to the workplace, is not included in labour legislation and is not a right of the staff member. At the request of the line manager, any absence must be justified by a quarantine certificate. Otherwise, it is possible to telework on an ad hoc basis, with the prior agreement of the line manager, or to take leave.

If you have been in contact within the last 48 hours with a close person who has tested positive, being a high-risk direct contact, you must quarantine yourself for 10 days from the day of the last contact with the positive person and get tested at the earliest on the 7th day.

You should discuss with your line manager the possibilities of teleworking and, if he or she requests it, you should send a quarantine certificate to the the ARH.

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.

The quarantine (due to a high-risk contact) ends 10 days after the last high-risk contact and if the result of the test, carried out at the earliest on the 7th day, is negative. At that time, you either stay at home on a one-off telework assignment with the agreement of your line manager, or you return to work in person. In any case, increased vigilance is required during the following 4 days.
Isolation in the event of symptoms and a positive COVID test ends 7 days after the onset of symptoms on the double condition that any fever has disappeared since the 4th day and that any other symptoms have subsided.
Isolation in case of symptoms and a negative COVID test ends as soon as the state of health allows, except in case of suspicion of a false negative.

You must inform your line manager without delay, who will inform the Vice-Rector for Personnel Policy, in strict confidentiality for the purposes of monitoring the infection within the university.

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.

The line manager must, in strict respect of the confidentiality of the person carrying the virus, inform his team and, for the purposes of monitoring the infection within the university, the Vice-Rector for Personnel Policy.

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

At present, a teacher who teaches a course must wear a mask.

Due to the difficulty of being audible in a large audience, for class groups of more than 50 students, the teacher is exempted from wearing a mask if a physical distance of at least 3 metres from the students is respected.

Teachers are advised to wash their hands with soap before and after the course in the sanitary facilities, which are thoroughly cleaned twice a day.

If necessary, hydro-alcoholic gel is also available at the entrance to the auditoriums / classrooms. Foot dispensers will be placed in front of the large auditoriums.

The auditoriums, public works rooms, libraries and information rooms, including shelves and tables, are cleaned daily by the cleaning service.

The cleaning of the table used to give lessons is left to the individual's responsibility after the lesson. Sprays of cleaning products are available in the faculties.

In the computer rooms and public works premises, dispensers of paper towels and antistatic cleaning products will be installed to clean computer surfaces and keyboards.

The auditoriums benefit from a ventilation system calculated to meet the needs of a sanitary situation such as the one we are dealing with.

No, you should not take attendance. It is the health team of the Help Service which is in charge of managing and tracing positive cases if necessary. It is only asked that teachers who have been informed by a student of their positivity at COVID inform the administrative management of the faculty.

If a professor receives information from a student that he or she is positive for COVID, the professor shall inform the administrative director of the faculty. The latter will refer the matter to the Health Team of the Help Desk.

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, from 14 September 2020, all tiered audiences (G) will be 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 will be managed by GPLO.  

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

In addition, backpacks containing mobile equipment will be available, from 14 September, 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 will also allow 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.

The Student Support Service can analyse their state of need and, if necessary, provide them with assistance, financial or otherwise, in order to obtain a PC. Concerned students are invited to submit an application here.

In the meantime, they should not hesitate to go to the University's computer rooms in accordance with the health regulations in force.

If you return from a red zone, you must place yourself in quarantine for 10 days and get tested at the earliest on the 7th day. For more information, visit the website of the FPS Foreign Affairs.

In the event of a compulsory test, it is requested that it be carried out in Belgium.

Professional or private trips of less than 48 hours in Europe are authorised regardless of the colour of the area concerned, without quarantine or mandatory tests on return. No Passenger Locator Form is otherwise required, unless you are travelling by plane or boat.

If you live in the red zone in a neighbouring country, the journey to and from your place of work is considered an essential trip. This means that you can travel to your work in Belgium as normal and that you are not required to observe a quarantine period or carry out a test. You must, however, request a certificate justifying the essential journey.

In the event of a compulsory test, it is requested that it be carried out on arrival in Belgium and not in the country of origin.

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.

To obtain a hydro-alcoholic solution, please make a request using this form.

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.

If you are unable to work at home from home, and your presence is therefore required at your place of work, you must ask your line manager for a travel certificate. There are two types of attestation : an ordinary attestation and an attestation for night work. Staff members residing in France must also complete the French travel certificate.

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

You have different options:

• Teleworking, with the agreement of your line manager
• Compulsory leave (4 paid and 6 unpaid days for full-time employees)
• Annual leave
• Temporary unemployment due to force majeure (see the ONEM website for more information and to download the certificate to be completed by the school or nursery). If you wish to activate it, please contact your compensation manager.

You have different options:

• Teleworking, with the agreement of your line manager
• Compulsory leave (4 paid and 6 unpaid days for full-time employees)
• Annual leave
• Temporary unemployment due to force majeure (see the ONEM website for more information). The school does not have to provide a specific form, but beware, recourse to temporary unemployment due to force majeure for childcare is only possible for the period of extended school break, and not during the school holidays themselves. If you wish to activate it, please contact your compensation manager.

The usual rules are in force.

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.

You can either 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

ASPU sports activities are suspended.