Coronavirus: Guidance for Employers

In this episode of the podcast I cover up to date key information for employers to consider.

Correct as at 09/03/2020.

In this episode I will cover:

• .What if the Employee returns from holiday in an affected area but has no symptoms or obvious exposure?
• What if the employee has possible exposure from someone who is infected and is advised to remain at home by a medical professional or on medical advice issued?
• Closure of the workplace or requiring staff to stay away from the office due to concerns?
• What if an employee has the virus?
• What if an employee wants to stay at home because they are worried or of a nervous disposition?
• What if an employee refuses to stay at home?
• What if the employee cannot work as their child’s school or nursery is closed?
• Some other considerations such as insurance and alternative ways of working.

Action Points

1) Issue a notice to all staff requiring them to inform you immediately if they are at risk because of travel to a location deemed by the Home office to be a risk.

2) Issue a notice to all staff reminding them of the requirement to properly wash their hands and contain any coughs and sneezes.

3) Encourage good hygiene in the workplace and consider increasing cleaning and providing additional sanitising equipment and materials.

4) If your business is such that customers and visitors come onto your premises, display additional notices about hand washing, provide sanitiser and put up notices asking customers to inform you if they have been to one of the affected areas in recent weeks.

5) If you intend to implement a policy of minimum time between returning from holiday to returning to work, notify all staff and inform them how you plan on dealing with this time. If you are going to require them to take holiday for example for these extra days make it clear that you are doing so and refer to the relevant part of your contracts and/or procedures.

6) Review your business continuity plan.

7) Consider your ability to work from home and explore what resources are available to you to enable your business to continue to operate as smoothly as possible.

8) Assign one or two senior people in the business as responsible for monitoring the situation on the www.gov.uk website and within the business.

9) If in doubt seek advice. We are talking to businesses on a daily basis about these issues and we can share best practice, latest advice and support with you.

Please do leave your thoughts on this issue in the comments section below. Please ensure that any comments are respectful to all views and opinions.

Photo-by-Dimitri-Karastelev-on-Unsplash

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Don't forget you can contact us by telephone [phone] or 023 8098 2006

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The information contained in this Podcast and post is provided for guidance and is a snapshot of the law at the time. It is provided for your information only and should not be used as a substitute for obtaining legal advice that it specific to your particular circumstances.

The guidance should not be relied upon in any decision making process. It is strongly recommended that you seek advice before taking action.

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