{"id":6098,"date":"2020-03-24T15:31:31","date_gmt":"2020-03-24T15:31:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thebusinessculture.co.uk\/hey\/?p=6098"},"modified":"2020-03-24T16:49:12","modified_gmt":"2020-03-24T16:49:12","slug":"covid-19-considerations-for-employers-and-employees","status":"publish","type":"know-how","link":"https:\/\/thebusinessculture.co.uk\/hey\/know-how\/covid-19-considerations-for-employers-and-employees\/","title":{"rendered":"COVID-19 - considerations for employers and employees"},"content":{"rendered":"

An article published by James Legal Solicitors<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19 has, in what feels like a few short weeks, presented with one of the most difficult and exceptional periods in recent history.<\/p>\n

Despite access to such high levels of information about what is happening around the world, the fact is that there is still a high level of uncertainty surrounding the effects of the virus both personally and economically. They say that rough seas make for skilled sailors and we are certainly in uncharted territory.<\/p>\n

In the last two weeks, the UK Government has ramped up measures in a bid to slow the spread of the virus and control its effects within the UK - most recently with the announcement of a lockdown of households and all-but-essential business services. This, of course, brings new challenges for businesses, with the government predicting that up to a fifth of the UK workforce could be off sick at the peak of the UK epidemic.<\/p>\n

So where do we start?<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the main principles to consider, as an employer, is the duty to take reasonably practicable steps to provide a safe workplace for your staff. This is balanced by an employee\u2019s responsibility to take care of themselves and their colleagues during the course of their employment. The Government's guidelines surrounding the pandemic are built on these principles, and designed to ensure we do all we can to limit the spread and protect those who are vulnerable. Essentially, we need an all-hands-on-deck approach to achieve this.<\/p>\n

If you employ people with a health condition which puts them at a higher risk from this virus, it is likely they will be given additional protection under Equality Act 2010 anyway, but you certainly also consider further measures under the new guidance.<\/p>\n

One of the first changes to be implemented by the government, to give some relief to both employers and employees, was an amendment to the current SSP rules. Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is now payable from the first day for those who are off work either with the virus itself or symptoms associated with it, and the first 14 days of SSP can be repaid to the employer.<\/p>\n

This provision is extended further to those who are self-isolating in line with government advice. In addition to this, people are being urged not to go to their GP surgery or hospital, and to simply stay at home if they have a cough, a temperature, or believe they have been in contact with someone who has the virus. The fact is many employees will have little to no evidence that they have the symptoms they describe and many will not be officially diagnosed. The Government has therefore urged employers to use their discretion during these exceptional times, and to be flexible when it comes to their requirements for evidence.<\/p>\n

Business needs to change with the tide, even under normal circumstances, and there are provisions in place to lawfully manage this, such as lay-offs and short-time working measures. To exercise them, you need to have them written in your contract of employment and there is a large question mark currently over whether the present exceptional circumstances will provide employers with any flexibility when looking at ways to prevent redundancies.<\/p>\n

One thing that is very clear is that the pandemic will affect every business in one way or another and it is important to assess your own challenges when deciding how to navigate through, towards calmer seas.<\/p>\n

To discover how we can support you and your business during this time, please contact either our employment law expert, Sara Brown<\/a> on 01482 974470 or commercial business expert, Byron Swarbrick<\/a> on 01482 974513.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An article published by James Legal Solicitors   Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19 has, in what feels like a few short weeks, presented with one of the most difficult","protected":false},"author":12312479,"featured_media":6097,"template":"","know_how_category":[],"class_list":["post-6098","know-how","type-know-how","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebusinessculture.co.uk\/hey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/know-how\/6098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebusinessculture.co.uk\/hey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/know-how"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebusinessculture.co.uk\/hey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/know-how"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebusinessculture.co.uk\/hey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12312479"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/thebusinessculture.co.uk\/hey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/know-how\/6098\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6101,"href":"https:\/\/thebusinessculture.co.uk\/hey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/know-how\/6098\/revisions\/6101"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebusinessculture.co.uk\/hey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebusinessculture.co.uk\/hey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"know_how_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebusinessculture.co.uk\/hey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/know_how_category?post=6098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}