雇主在傳染病大流行期間之人身保護義務——以民法第四百八十三條之一在COVID-19防疫期間之適用為中心

Employer’s Personal Protective Duty During the Pandemic of an Infectious Disease: Focusing on the Application of Article 483-1 of the Civil Code During the COVID-19 Period

雇主在新冠肺炎大流行期間，應依據民法第四百八十三條之一的規定，履行對於勞工的生命、身體與健康等人身保護義務。傳染病防治法上的防疫義務，與職業安全衛生法上的勞動保護義務，透過民法第四百八十三條之一的規定，轉換到勞動契約中，成為具體化的保護義務。雇主除了遵守上述法律規定外，並應遵守職業安全衛生設施規則中對於防護生物病原體的安全措施，以及勞動部職業安全衛生署所公布的職場安全衛生防護指引，辨識感染新冠肺炎可能的危害，實施風險評估，並依據評估結果採取適當的控制措施。為了履行保護義務，雇主得單方免除勞工服勞務的義務，對於解除居家隔離後返回工作場所準備服勞務的勞工，雇主不得拒絕其工作，若雇主拒絶受領勞務，仍應給付工資。雇主未履行人身保護義務時，勞工得請求雇主履行，也得適用民法第二百六十四條的規定，行使同時履行抗辯權，或得主張不可期待其服勞務而拒絶給付勞務，也得終止勞動契約，或請求債務不履行或侵權行為的損害賠償。

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the employer should perform his/her personal protective duty to protect an employee’s life, body and health under§483-1 of the Civil Code. The epidemic prevention duty under the Communicable Disease Control Act and the protective responsibility under the Occupational Safety and Health Act have become concrete personal protective duty converted into labor contract through§483-1 of the Civil Code. In addition to complying with the above-mentioned laws, the employer should abide by the safety measures against biological pathogens in the Regulations for the Occupational Safety and Health Equipment and Measures as well as the Guidelines for Workplace Safety and Health Protection Measures in response to COVID-19 issued by the Ministry of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Moreover, the employer should identify possible hazard and implement risk assessment and take appropriate control measure based on the evaluation result. To fulfill protective duty, the employer may unilaterally exempt the employee from the obligation to provide services. When the employer violates this duty, the employee may claim that the service obligation cannot be expected and performed due to contract impossibility. When the employee returns to the workplace and is ready to provide services after the completion of self-quarantine, the employer should not refuse, if the employer delays accepting the services, the employee may demand for the wage. If the employer did not fulfill this protective duty, the employee may claim the employer to perform, or apply§264 of the Civil Code, exercising the right to simultaneously perform as a right to defense, and may also terminate the labor contract, or claim damages for non- performance of contract or tort.