With the first confirmed case of the coronavirus (officially Covid-19) in Birmingham and a local school in Solihull being closed for a deep clean, it appears that the threat of the Coronavirus hitting the West Midlands has arrived.
A number of my clients have already been in touch this week to seek assistance as the outbreak of coronavirus (officially Covid-19) raises points of employment law, immigration, health and safety and data protection for UK employers. I would suggest that specific legal advice should be sought where necessary, as the situation is changing daily.
To assist, I have put together this article with contains some helpful information, however please note that the situation changes on a daily basis and so advice specific to your situation should always be sought.
What can we do as a business to protect the health and safety of our staff?
It is good practice for employers to:
- send round an email/guidance encouraging employees to be extra-vigilant with washing their hands, using and disposing of tissues
- put up handwashing signs in the toilets, kitchen and any communal areas
- make sure there are clean places to wash hands with hot water and soap
- encourage everyone to wash their hands regularly
- provide hand sanitiser and tissues for staff, and encourage them to use them
- place hands sanitiser in the toilets, kitchen, communal areas such as reception, meeting rooms
- if you have the capacity to do so, designate an ‘isolation room’ where an employee who feels unwell can go and sit away from the rest of the staff and privately call ‘111’ before taking any further necessary action
- consider whether any travel plans to affected areas are essential
- ensure that no-one is singled out or treated differently because of their race or ethnicity
- make sure that all staff including managers know what the symptoms of coronavirus are and how to spot such symptoms; and
- ensure that all relevant processes and procedure are clear such as reporting sickness absence and sick pay, just in case someone in the workplace develops the virus.
Do we have to pay an employee if they have to self-isolate?
The answer to this question depends upon whether they have chosen to self-isolate or whether they have been TOLD to self-isolate.
The government has stated that if NHS 111 or a doctor advises an employee or worker to self-isolate, they will be entitled to receive any Statutory Sick Pay due to them.
Due to a change announced to the statutory sick pay rules, this will now be paid from the first day of absence without the need for waiting days. This change is temporary and will only apply during the coronavirus epidemic, after which sick pay may revert to the previous position, which is that it is only paid from the fourth day of absence.
If you offer contractual sick pay, it is good practice for you to pay this as the employee is deemed as being unable to work.
However, you may need to be flexible if you require evidence from the employee or worker. For example, they may not be able to provide a sick note ('fit note') if they have been told to self-isolate for 14 days. But then again, there is nothing preventing the employee from having the fit note collected by a friend/family member and being posted through their home letterbox, or alternatively having the fit note sent to them via post or on email enabling the employee to send the same to you on email only so no contact has to be made with the actual fit note.
Therefore, the entitlement to sick pay only arises when the employee has been told by a medical professional i.e. a doctor or NHS 111 to self-isolate.
What do we do if the employee chooses to self-isolate?
You are unlikely to be able to require employees to take holiday for any period of self-isolation in the absence of a contractual right to do so. As these employees are not "sick" per se, it is unlikely that they will be covered by sick leave.
Where an employee voluntarily remains away from the workplace due to self-isolation without discussing this with the employer, you may be able to consider such leave to be unpaid, although this will depend on the individual circumstances.
Instead, assuming the employer has instructed employees who according to government guidance should self-isolate to remain away from their place of work; employees are likely to be on a period of leave. This leave is likely to need to be paid at full pay, unless an employer has a contractual right to place the employee on a period of unpaid leave, which is unlikely.
Can we expect an employee required to self-isolate following travel from a particular geographic area to work from home?
This will all depend on the circumstances such as:
- whether the employee has symptoms – in which case, they should be on sick leave and therefore not working; or
- whether the employee is able to work from home.
You may want to start thinking about whether you need to take any steps to facilitate the possibility of home working which may include ensuring that all employees have a way of logging on to secure systems from home.
If an employee has been told to self-isolate can we prevent that employee from attending our premises?
In short yes. You have a duty to your staff under Health and Safety law too. If you knowingly allow an employee/worker who has been told to self-isolate to attend work and come into contact with other people, you may be in breach of those duties, particularly where any of those other employees/workers are more vulnerable to infection for example, pregnant employees and those with long-term health conditions.
In this particular scenario, suspension may be an option where the employee who has been advised to self-isolate refuses to do so. However, before doing so, ensure that you obtain legal advice as you may or may not have the right to suspend.
What happens if an employee needs time off work to look after someone?
All employees are entitled to time off to help/care for someone who depends on them, namely a dependant which, in most cases, is usually a child. This occurs in an unexpected event or emergency. With the situation as it is, this would apply to situations to do with the coronavirus. For example:
- if the employee has children that they need to look after or arrange childcare for because the school has closed for a deep clean; and/or
- to help their child or another dependant if they are unwell or need to go into isolation or hospital
Please note however, there is no statutory right to pay for this time off. Nevertheless, some employers might offer pay depending on the employee’s contract or its own workplace policies.
The amount of time off an employee takes to look after someone must be reasonable for the situation. For example, they might take 2 days off to start with, and if more time is needed, they have the option of booking holiday or agreeing to a period of unpaid leave.
Other issues
There are more issues that the coronavirus creates such as data protection issues and how to deal with having an employee who is diagnosed or self-isolating. In addition, it also raises immigration issues and how to deal with the practical issues if there is a suspected case in the workplace.
If you need any advice or assistance on any of the issues raised in this article, please contact us on 0121 746 3300 or email us at e.hewitt@sydneymitchell.co.uk
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