In case of a positive COVID test, whether you are teleworking or not, you are invited to inform the university via this form
Do not forget to follow the health rules in force at UCLouvain:
Workplace
Teleworking is compulsory for the functions that lend themselves to it and with respect for the continuity of the University's missions. If it cannot be implemented, the rules of physical distance must be respected.
Research activities, including dissertations and internships, activities in support of research and teaching, as well as activities of service to society which cannot be carried out at a distance, are continued with strict respect for health rules and physical distance.
Teaching activities are carried out in accordance with the occupancy arrangements for the premises set out below.
Certain missions and activities, including those in general services, require the maintenance of an indispensable face-to-face presence. Responsibility for the organisation of the latter rests with the hierarchical line.
Cafeteria access
Access to the cafeterias and social areas is allowed as long as there is only one person in the space at a time.
Working (including committee) meetings
Work meetings are held at a distance.
Teaching premises occupancy
- Learning activities take place at a distance, with the exceptions listed below. If necessary, the teacher may be alone in the audience (for example, if he or she has to use a board, equipment or the poly studio system).
- Laboratories and practical work which take place in rooms equipped with specific equipment and which cannot be carried out at a distance may be held in the classroom provided that two conditions are met: masks must be worn at all times and the number of students present simultaneously in the room must be limited to a maximum.
- The activities that take place outside on the public field can only bring together a maximum of 4 people with respect to safety distances.
- The internships take place in compliance with the regulations applicable in the place of reception.
- Activities with practical gestures are carried out in compliance with the rules applicable to the sector of activity concerned.
- In the case of a face-to-face activity, masks must be worn by both students and teachers. When the wearing of a mask or any other fabric alternative is not possible for medical reasons, a face shield must be used. Persons who, due to a situation of disability certified by a medical certificate, are unable to wear a mask, fabric alternative or face shield are exempted from wearing a mask or a face shield alternative.
- Signs indicate foot traffic direction.
- A maximum of 3 hours of activities can be organised continuously in the same room.
- General health measures must be observed: hand hygiene, ventilation of premises, disinfection of equipment and surfaces after use and cleaning of premises.
Scientific and other professionel events (including thesis defences)
Catering
Receptions and banquets organised by a caterer or catering service are suspended.
Elevators
Not recommended when there is an alternative.
Buildings
Authorised subject to respecting health measures.
Libraries and Learning Centers
Access is permitted by wearing a mask and keeping a physical distance of 1.5 m. For more information, the access modalities (including schedules) are specified on the libraries and Learning Centers website.
Computer labs
Access is permitted by wearing a mask and maintaining a physical distance of 1.5 m.
University restaurants
University restaurants are closed.
MuséeL
See MuséeL website.
Welcoming persons from abroad
The reception of international visitors is momentarily suspended with the exception of the reception of :
- international students who are enrolled in a regular university programme or in an exchange programme,
- international researchers who have an employment contract or an allowance allowing a stay at UCLouvain,
- people who travel to carry out essential professional activities at UCLouvain that cannot be postponed or carried out remotely.
Importantly, access to the territory depends on border controls in the home country, transit countries and Belgium.
Visitors will follow the health measures in force in Belgium (including possible self-quarantine measures, see https://diplomatie.belgium.be/en) and at the university.
It is important to ensure that hosts provide institutional information on the measures taken to limit the spread of the virus and the possibilities of access to healthcare in Belgium. We are counting on the collaboration of everyone to help make this information accessible.
Staff business travel
Non-essential business travel is suspended.
Essential business travel must be authorised in advance by the line manager.
For authorized business travel, it is important to verify BOTH at the time of travel and lodging reservations AND of departure that:
- Belgian Foreign Affairs authorises travel abroad for scientific and/or educational activities (https://diplomatie.belgium.be/en)
- the countries of destination and transit authorise persons coming from Belgium to enter the territory for scientific and/or educational activities (https://diplomatie.belgium.be/fr/Services/voyager_a_letranger/conseils_par_destination)
Persons travelling for essential reasons must be in possession of a sworn statement to be attached to the Passenger Location Form and must follow the health measures in force in the host country and on their return to Belgium (including the provisions relating to COVID testing and quarantine), see https://diplomatie.belgium.be/en.
As a reminder, UCLouvain's insurance policies do not cover the consequences of an illness abroad. It is therefore important to check with your mutual insurance company, your health care, hospitalisation or life insurer or any other organisation that may be able to help you, to find out the conditions of cover in the country of destination.
It is strongly recommended that Belgian travellers register at https://travellersonline.diplomatie.be to benefit from local consular services. It is also recommended to buy travel insurance adapted to global health circumstances and to ensure that the conditions of mandatory quarantine on return do not interfere with professional activities.
Note that the usual procedure for business trips to countries at risk (including for reasons other than the coronavirus) remains in place. Consequently, any movement in an area considered a red zone by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs (https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/conseils-aux-voyageurs/conseils-par-pays-destination, see map at bottom of ‘security’ tab) requires the rector’s authorisation (cf. intranet: https://intranet.uclouvain.be/fr/myucl/administrations/adfi/voyages-al-etranger-0.html).
The provisions above also apply to PhD students, who are, in terms of international mobility, considered staff regardless of their funding source.
Staff returning from abroad
Staff returning from abroad are asked to comply with the recommendations issued by the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Hygiene and health
Isolation, quarantine and teleworking: in which cases?
Isolation concerns the person tested positive or showing symptoms.
Quarantine refers to the untested and asymptomatic person who has had direct high-risk contact with a person who has tested positive. 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 or if people have been driving together in the same means of transportation for more than 15 minutes, even with the mask on. In other cases, the contact is considered "low risk".
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.
I have symptoms. Can I go into "self-isolation"?
If you have symptoms, you cannot go to work, you must isolate yourself and, unless there is a medical counter-order, get tested. You must inform your line manager of your absence and justify it with a medical certificate to be sent to ARH.
Someone close to me is showing symptoms suggestive of COVID. What should I do?
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.
A relative is in isolation or quarantine. Do I have to quarantine myself?
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.
I suspect a case of COVID in my close neighbourhood. Can I put myself in "self-quarantine"?
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.
The COVID test result of a close relative is positive. What should I do?
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 and get tested.
I have to go into quarantine or isolation. What should I do?
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.
I am in quarantine or isolation. When can I come back to work?
Quarantine begins as soon as you learn that you have had high-risk contact. It lasts until the 7th day after the last exposure, if the test performed at that time is negative.
If the test is positive, you enter isolation (which is stricter than quarantine). This ends 10 days after the onset of symptoms, on the double condition that the possible fever has disappeared since the 4th day and that the other possible symptoms have subsided. If you are asymptomatic, the isolation ends 10 days after the test.
If you have symptoms despite a negative test, you will also enter isolation. This ends as soon as the state of health allows it.
The result of my test is positive. What should I do?
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.
The test result of a member of my team is positive. What should I do?
The line manager must invite the member of his or her team to inform the university of his or her positivity via this form, in order to allow internal UCLouvain tracing. In this way, the university is aware of the epidemiological situation on its sites (by faculty, institute, department, etc.) and can, via a specially trained internal tracing 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.
I have more questions. Who can I contact?
You can send your questions to personnel-sante@uclouvain.be.
Teaching activities
As a teacher, do I have to wear a mask when I teach?
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.
Is it necessary to take attendance at classes for tracing purposes?
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.
What should I do if, as a teacher, I learn that one of my students is positive about COVID?
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.
How can I find out the capacity of the audiences and their technical equipment?
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.
How can I prepare to comodal teaching or distance evaluation ?
Resources and training courses are offered by the Louvain Learning Lab.
Will students have access to useful information and platforms for my course?
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.
Some of my students do not have laptops. How can I help them?
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.
Travel and other international situations
I have just returned from a mission abroad. What do I have to do?
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.
I am cross-border worker. Am I exempt from certain measures?
See below "How do I get a certificate to go to my workplace?"
Where should a foreign visitor go for a screening test if necessary?
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.
Material at your disposal
I would like to obtain the masks for my team. How can I do this?
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.
I would like to obtain a visor. How can I do this?
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
How to obtain hydro-alcoholic solution?
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).
What are the instructions for the proper use of the hydro-alcoholic solution?
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
I would like nitrile or latex gloves for protection.
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.
Human Resources
How do I get a certificate to go to my workplace?
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.
In addition, staff members residing in France must complete, download and print a Belgian certificate of honour and a French certificate of honour, to be carried at all times. It should be noted that these cross-border staff members are exempt from PCR testing.
I would like to send a medical 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.
Extended school holidays : what can I do?
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.
I would like to take a leave of absence
The usual rules are in force.
I would like to postpone holidays to next year. Is this possible?
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.
Am I insured when I work at home?
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.
I feel the need for psychological help or support. Who can I turn to?
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
Do COVID measures have an impact on the organisation of sports activities for staff?
ASPU sports activities are suspended.