A circular has been issued by the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources (FAHR) to all ministries and federal bodies. The circular lays forward the details around quarantine period for employees who are either positive for Covid-19 or have been in contact with a positive person.

Circular No. 04 of 2021 specifies that government employees who have been administered with two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, and have contracted the infection or have come in contact with a positive person, will have to quarantine and work remotely for some period, as specified by UAE health authorities.

Furthermore, federal employees who have not received two vaccine doses, and have either contracted or have come into contact with someone a positive person, will also be required to quarantine. The days would be deducted from their annual leave. For employees not having enough annual leave balance, the quarantine period will function as unpaid leave. The Authority mentioned that these employees will be required to fulfill all work requirements assigned during this period.

FAHR said employees who either tested positive, been in contact with infected person, or taken either the first or second dose of the vaccine, will have to record their health status on the federal government’s human resource management system (Bayanati). The system has been revised and would now allow employees to log in data and manage all their requests related to Covid-19.

FAHR has urged federal government employees to follow all precautionary measures in place to curb the infection spread, and also federal bodies to ensure that all guidelines are followed. All the federal bodies are required to submit a weekly report on the employees' status – number of employees infected, those who have come into contact with an infected person, and those vaccinated.

The Authority has announced that on February 1, next Monday, a virtual workshop would be hosted for its employees. The workshop would further clarify the electronic requirements which are mentioned in the Circular.