Termination due to Covid 19 quarantine invalid

The Cologne Labor Court has declared the termination of an employment relationship by an employer due to an officially ordered quarantine against its employee to be invalid.

In October 2020, the employee was in quarantine at home following telephone orders from the health department as the contact person for his girlfriend’s brother, who had tested positive for Covid-19. The employee informed his employer, a small roofing company, about this. The employer doubted the quarantine order and suspected that the employee just wanted to avoid work. He requested written confirmation from the health department, which the employee also requested by telephone from the health department. When this written confirmation from the health authority was not received after several days, the employer terminated the employment relationship.

The Cologne Labor Court upheld the dismissal protection claim.

The Dismissal Protection Act is not applicable, so the employer generally does not have to present a reason for termination in court for a termination to be legally effective within the deadline. However, the court viewed the termination as immoral and breach of trust. The employee had simply adhered to the official quarantine order. According to the court, what made matters worse was that the employer had expressly asked the employee to come to work contrary to the quarantine order.

The decision can be appealed to the Cologne Regional Labor Court.

Source: Press release from the ArbG Cologne No. 1/2021 from April 21, 2021