Coronavirus
update Coronavirusupdate

Now that the legal requirement for employers to enable employees to work from home has expired, a new agreement ('Working from an alternative location') under section 93 of the Hamburg Employee Representation Act has entered into force. This means that employees can continue to perform some of their work from home, provided that their tasks and university operations permit. As previously, staff members should agree on home-office arrangements in writing with their direct supervisors.

More information and an agreement template are available on the university’s employee portal.

It should be noted that the occupational health and safety rules currently in effect also apply to work undertaken in another location. This means that a risk assessment must be completed before an employee can begin working from home. The templates and additional information are available in the occupational safety, health and environmental management system (AGUM). Please note: If you are working from home and would like to access the AGUM, you will need to be connected to the university network via VPN.

Non-teaching events (such as discussion, presentation and informational events; film presentations; expert conferences; workshops; and welcome and graduation ceremonies) can be held on campus.

On-campus meetings are also permitted. However, it is recommended that organisers consider whether it is possible to carry out the event digitally.

Additionally, it is recommended that all participants wear a medical mask (ideally an FFP2 mask) at these events. A supplementary risk assessment can be carried out to determine whether further protective measures and/or a mask-wearing requirement are necessary. The D4-7 risk assessment form entitled Risk of contact with SARS-CoV-2 through on-campus teaching activities, exams and meetings can be used for this purpose.

Offices can now be used by more than one person at the same time. When this is the case, it is recommended that all those present wear a medical mask.

Offices and areas with visitors or footfall (e.g. faculty service offices, mailrooms, Student ID Card Office) have been fitted with transparent screens to protect staff. The employees are also being provided with FFP2 masks, which protect both the person wearing the mask and others.

It is strongly recommended that employees with pre-existing health conditions that put them at risk of developing severe complications from a Covid-19 infection wear an FFP2 mask if more than one person is present in a room. Where necessary, a risk assessment can be carried out and individualised protective measures can be identified. The doctor from Hamburg's occupational health service (Arbeitsmedizinischer Dienst), Frau Dr. Peschke (ursula.peschke (@) zafamd.hamburg.de, Tel. 42841-1319), or the specialists from HAW Hamburg's Occupational Safety Unit (AKU) can provide support in this regard
(arbeitsschutz (@) haw-hamburg.de).

If you have tested positive for Covid-19, you will not necessarily receive a doctor's note (Krankschreibung) excusing you from work. Doctors are only permitted to issue sick notes if the infected individual also has symptoms. In the event that you are ill and unable to work, the instructions outlining what to do in cases of illness provided in the employee portal apply. 

If you have received a positive result from a PCR test or a PoC rapid antigen test provided by a test centre or medical facility, you are legally required to isolate for five days in your own home or other suitable accommodation. It is not possible to 'test out' of isolation before the five days have passed. The isolation requirement ends after five days; however, it is recommended that you then perform your own self-tests and only stop isolating when your test result is negative.

As long as you are not unable to work due to illness, your duty to work during the isolation period remains in place. If this is the case, the work can be completed from home. Alternatively, you can use up overtime or take holiday days. It should be noted that – unlike when you have been issued a sick note – previously approved holidays cannot be reversed.

Employees who are working on campus are still able to use the self-tests provided by the university.

The current coronavirus occupational safety ordinance stipulates that employees can be vaccinated during work hours and that this counts as time worked.

No, please don't enter HAW Hamburg buildings if you have a cold. Please inform your supervisor that you cannot come to HAW Hamburg and decide together how to proceed.

If you are still able to work despite your symptoms, you can work from home. If you are not able to work, the usual rules regarding a doctor's note  apply.

You can return to HAW Hamburg without having taken a corona test (please note that different rules apply for employees returning from travel). However, you should be fever-free and feeling well for at least one day before coming back to the university.

The number of so-called 'children's sick days' was increased again on 30 April 2021. The Human Resources Agency of the City of Hamburg sent mails on the topic to staff on 20 January 2021, 24 January 2021, 30 April 2021, and 20 March 2022. (Please see the German version of this page for links to these documents, which are available in German only.)

The regulations regarding children's sick days and child illness benefits have been extended until 23 September 2022.

The legal basis for the receipt of child illness benefits and the increased number of children's sick days is contained in Paragraph 45 of the fifth book of the German Social Code (§ 45 SGB V).  In brief, the following applies:

Regular employees (under the collective agreement):
The number of children's sick days available is 30 work days per parent and child, up to a maximum of 65 days (single parents are allocated 60 days per child, up to a maximum of 130 days).

Parents are entitled to use these when a child is sick or in the following cases:

• If children who are not ill need to be cared for at home because daycare facilities are temporarily closed, the legal requirement to attend school has been lifted, or eligibility for childcare has been limited
• When children are not permitted to enter childcare facilities (e.g. due to officially imposed quarantine)
• In the event of officially mandated school or company closures

In all other respects, the provisions of § 45 SGB V shall apply. This means, among other things, that the regulations only apply to children who are under the age of 12 or who are disabled and dependent on assistance and when no other person living in the household is available to provide childcare.

As proof, please submit a certificate from the daycare or school management together with the application for children's sick days. Please use the form that is also used in regular cases under § 45 SGB V: Notification of request for changes (you need to be logged into the HAW Hamburg employee portal in order to open this link) and send both via your supervisor to the Personnel Department staff member responsible for your file. This can be done digitally; subsequent submission of the original documents is not necessary.

Business travel in Germany and abroad is now permitted in accordance with the general regulations for business travel. When travelling outside of Germany, employees are required to inform themselves about the country-specific coronavirus-related regulations ahead of time.

In the case of business travel abroad, employees are required to ensure that the country has not been designated a 'high risk area' or a 'variant of concern area' by the Robert Koch Institute, both before booking the trip and directly before embarking on travel. If this designation occurs between the time of booking and the departure date, the business travel shall no longer be considered approved or assigned without a special explanation from the organisational unit or the supervisor. In this case, the employee is not permitted to travel.

Upon returning to Germany from abroad, employees may be required to quarantine depending on the country visited.