Coronavirus - Your Questions Answered

If an employee has been asked to isolate or has contracted the virus, you must share this with your team. However, this must be done in a correct way to ensure you don’t breach privacy rules. In addition, you should avoid sharing names and don’t share more information than is necessary.   

As an employer, you have a duty of care to protect the health and safety of employees and data protection does not stop you from honouring this. 

Yes, employees are still required to get tested even if they have symptoms or have been in contact with someone who has tested positive even if they are double vaccintaed.

Fully vaccinated adults no longer having to isolate if they are identified as a close contact to someone who has tested positive with Covid-19 if:

• The fully vaccinated person doesn’t show any symptoms of Coronavirus  
• Two weeks have passed since they received their second dose of the Vaccine  
• They have taken a PCR test and it has come back negative 

5- to 17-year-olds will also no longer have to self-isolate providing they follow the rules above. (Excluding the double vaccination rule)     

From 11th November 2021, the government are proposing that all care home workers in England must be vaccinated. This will apply to all Care Quality Commission-regulated service providers of personal care and nursing, in care homes. However, this doesn’t currently apply to care workers who are clinically excempt from getting the vaccine. 

If you are an employer in the care sector and your team haven’t had their second vaccine yet, it’s time to encourage them to get this before 11th November. Anyone who isn’t double vaccinated after this date are not permitted to enter a care home unless they are clinically exempt. 

You can contact us if you would like any support with procedures to manage unvaccinated employees after this date. Call us on 01383 668178.

You don’t have to wait until furlough ends before starting a redundancy process. However, there are steps you have to take before making redundancies and it’s important you follow these steps. This includes at risk meetings and consultations. Find out more here: https://www.thehrbooth.co.uk/blog/how-to-make-redundancies/ 

Furlough compliance checks were put in place by HMRC to ensure businesses were entitled to claim furlough and ensure they are claiming for the right amount.

When the government made the decision to lock down early last year, the focus was to provide emergency support to businesses as quickly as possible. Due to the urgency, employers were able to request this financial support from HMRC without having to complete compliance checks first. However, HMRC made it clear that organisations will have to complete these checks in the future.   

The chancellor announced that a COVID fraud team has been put in place within HMRC. This is due to the estimation that up to 10% of Furlough applications may have been claimed fraudulently. In addition, it’s important you prepare for these HMRC Furlough compliance checks in case future enquiries makes its way to your business. 

Once the furlough scheme has ended, HMRC will contact businesses who have applied for furlough to give them a final opportunity to self-correct. If they fail to respond, they may face investigations which can lead to penalties and possible criminal sanctions.

Find out more here: https://www.thehrbooth.co.uk/covid/hmrc-furlough-compliance-checks/

Furlough ends on 30th September 2021. Find out your options here: https://www.thehrbooth.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Copy-of-Educational-Guide-September-2021.pdf 

As an employer, you can make changes to contract terms and conditions before and after furlough. However, this only applies if your employees have agreed to these changes.

You and your employees do not need to have benefited from the scheme before to make a claim. You can check if you’re eligible and work out how much you can claim using our CJRS calculator and examples, by searching ‘Job Retention Scheme’ on GOV‌.UK.

If you’re claiming for the first time, you’ll need:

• a Government Gateway (GG) ID and password – if you don’t already have a GG account, you can apply for one on GOV‌‌‌.UK by searching for ‘HMRC services: sign in or register’
• to be enrolled for PAYE online
• the following information for each furloughed employee you’ll be claiming for:
• name
• National Insurance number
• claim period and amount
• PAYE/employee number.

There’s a list of monthly claims deadlines and a helpful step-by-step guide on GOV.UK, summarising the latest information on CJRS and the steps you need to take to make a claim – you can find these by searching ‘Job Retention Scheme step by step guide’.

If you have furloughed employees because of the effect of coronavirus on your business, you can claim under the CJRS for periods of paid leave they take while on furlough, including for bank holidays such as Christmas Day or Boxing Day. You should not place employees on furlough just because they are going to be on leave.

If your employee is flexibly furloughed, you can count any time taken as holiday as furloughed hours rather than working hours. This means you can claim 80% of their usual wages for these hours.

If a furloughed employee takes holiday, you should top up their pay to their normal rate in line with the Working Time Regulations. For more information search ‘check if you can claim for your employees’ wages’ on GOV‌‌‌‌‌.UK.

Where an employee refuses to self-isolate and wishes to return to the workplace, you should first consult with the employee to try and establish the reasons for this, with an aim to resolving any concerns the employee has.

Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HSWA), an employer is under a duty to provide a safe place of work and protect the health and safety of its employees. If an employer is aware that one of its employees has been instructed to self-isolate via the NHS Test and Trace scheme, but allows or encourages the employee to come into the workplace, the employer could be putting the health and safety of other employees at risk. Therefore, it is likely that the employer would be at risk of being in breach of its duties under the HSWA and other duties and so the employee should understand that they may not be permitted to return to company premises during any period of self-isolation.

We therefore advise employers and employees to work together to try resolve any issues in regards to self-isolation. The most likely reason why an employee will be reluctant to self-isolate is because they will lose out on pay if they are put onto statutory sick pay (SSP). Consider, therefore, whether there is any work that the employee might be able to do from home even if it outside of their usual remit. Alternatively, consider whether the employee is able to work additional hours on their return.

Employees who are asked to self-isolate under the Test and Trace scheme, and are unable to work from home, are entitled to receive SSP. Alternatively, employers may consider offering the employee the option to take paid annual leave if they prefer.

No, taking part in the scheme is voluntary for individuals, the government is asking employers to encourage employees to adopt the scheme, follow the guidelines and inform their employer of any request to self-isolate.

If an employee contracts Coronavirus, this should be treated in the same way as any other sickness absence in terms of payment. If Company policy normally only pays statutory sick pay (SSP) during sickness absence, then this is what the employee should receive subject to meeting the qualifying criteria. Employees who are self-isolating in accordance with UK and Scottish Government advice, or are advised by then test and tracing service, are also eligible for SSP.

If you have reason to believe that an employee may not be adhering to Government guidance in relation to self-isolation, you are encouraged to engage in open and honest discussion with the employee to discuss your concerns. You should contact HR to discuss the next steps, who will provide advice and support should formal action be necessary under the Company Investigation/Disciplinary Policy.

In accordance with UK and Scottish Government advice, if an employee has symptoms, however mild, or is in a household where someone has symptoms, they should self-isolate, as should everyone in their household. These people should not leave their house or go to work and employers should advise them to follow the Government self-isolation advice and ask for a test. If a test is negative, then isolation is no longer required.

If an employee is self-isolating and cannot work form home, pay should be calculated in line with the Company Policy regarding sickness absence.

The Company should ensure all employees have access to:

· a clear policy and procedure in relation to social distancing measures

· given the appropriate training and guidance on how to apply the policy and procedure

· access to all the necessary equipment and PPE

You are encouraged to tackle non-conformance immediately and ensure that corrective action is taken. Contact HR if you have concerns with repeated non-conformance. HR will provide the support should formal action be necessary in line with the Company Investigation/Disciplinary Policy.

Employers have a duty of care for all employees and visitors on work premises, it is therefore vital that Health and Safety procedures are in place to ensure that all social distancing measures are being taken in accordance with Government guidelines.

Examples of close contact include:

· close face to face contact (under 1 metre) for any length of time – including talking to others or coughing on them

· being within 1 to 2 metres of each other for more than 15 minutes – including travelling in a small vehicle

· spending lots of time in your home

Interaction, which has taken place through a Perspex (or equivalent) screen, will not count as sufficient contact.

Please refer to the Company Policy regarding Covid-19 social distancing measures to ensure social distancing is being adhered to.

Where a worker has tested positive for Covid-19 the position is as follows:

· an employee with a confirmed diagnosis should stay at home with immediate effect and you should advise them to follow the Government self-isolation advice.

· employees who could have been exposed to the infected colleague, due to being in close contact with them, should be sent home.

Government advice states those who have been in recent close contact with an infected person should self-isolate, breaking the transmission chain.

According to NHS guidance the symptoms of Covid-19 are:

· A high temperature (above 37.8 degrees Celsius)

· New, continuous cough

· A loss or change to your sense of smell or taste

If an employee attends work or calls to report they have any of the symptoms listed above, however mild, or is in a household where someone has symptoms, they should self-isolate, as should all in their household.

If the employee develops symptoms whilst at work, you should:

· advise them to leave work

· encourage them to avoid public transport to get home

· advise them to get a test as soon as possible. The test should be done in the first 5 days of having symptoms

· where it is possible, home working should be permitted

· if home working is not possible, discuss with them what they will get paid ie. Company sick pay or SSP

Under the test and trace system, they will be asked to disclose the places they have visited in the 48 hours prior to their symptoms starting, which may include their workplace.

Employees must self-isolate immediately if:

· they have any symptoms of Covid-19 (a high temperature, a new continuous cough or a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste)

· they have tested positive for Covid-19 – this means they have Covid-19

· staff live with someone who has symptoms or tested positive

· someone in their support bubble has symptoms or tested positive

· they are told to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace’ in England, ‘Test and Protect’ in Scotland or ‘Test, trace, protect’ in Wales. · they arrive in the UK from a country with a high Covid-19 risk – see GOV.UK: how to self-isolate when you travel to the UK

Fully vaccinated adults no longer having to isolate if they are identified as a close contact to someone who has tested positive with Covid-19 if:

• The fully vaccinated person doesn’t show any symptoms of Coronavirus  
• Two weeks have passed since they received their second dose of the Vaccine  
• They have taken a PCR test and it has come back negative 

5- to 17-year-olds will also no longer have to self-isolate providing they follow the rules above. (Excluding the double vaccination rule)     

Self-isolation is when someone does not leave their home because they have or might have Covid-19.

This helps stop the virus spreading to other people.

Self-isolation is different to:

· Social distancing – this is the general advice for everyone to avoid close contact with other people. Social distancing is to stop the spread of Covid-19, you should ensure all steps have been taken to ensure social distancing measures are in place and all employees who report to you are adhering to these measures.

· Shielding – this is the advice for people at high risk from Covid-19. If an employee is high risk (clinically extremely vulnerable) from Covid-19, they were advised to take extra steps to protect themselves until 1st August 2020. This was called shielding. However, as of 1st August, staff are no longer eligible for SSP based on being advised to shield by the Government. If an individual is unable to work from home, you should help transition them back to work safely and support them with to maintain good hand hygiene and social distancing practice in the workplace.

Please note it is worth considering if there are any local restrictions in place where there is a Covid-19 outbreak, the advice may be different for employees who live, work or study in these areas. See areas with local restrictions on GOV.UK. Link to Gov.uk – Local restrictions

You’ll still need to pay the employer National Insurance and pension contributions on your furloughed employees’ pay. Employees who have been put on furlough will still have to pay National Insurance and tax on their salary as usual

So far there have been no government changes to redundancy procedure, instead there have been financial measures seeking to help employers avoid or minimise redundancies. If redundancies are unavoidable the safest approach is to follow normal redundancy procedures, consultation and timelines. 

The law does provide a rarely used exception that, in some cases, an employer may be able to justify not meeting the full consultation requirements. Whilst the coronavirus situation is unprecedented, it is not a ‘special circumstance’ in a redundancy context justifying avoidance of consultation. It is extremely difficult to justify cutting down on the redundancy

consultation process; employers should follow consultation procedures in full and not rely on the potential exception.

The following timescales are required when consulting with employees, depending on number of employees being made redundant.

Individual Consultation only – 19 or fewer employees

30 days – 20-99 employees

45 days – 100+ employees

Failure to follow these guidelines leaves the employer vulnerable to extra payments called protective awards of 90 days’ extra pay each.

Employees and workers can carry over up to 4 weeks’ paid holiday over a 2-year period, if they cannot take holiday due to coronavirus. We have had a lot of clients worried about the impact of holidays as when the business starts trading as normal, your staff may want to take holidays at a time you’re going to be busy. Remember, it’s up to you to authorise these holidays or decline them and you can now carry over unused entitlement over a 2-year period.

Current guidance can be found here – https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus—school-and-elc-closures-guidance-on-critical-childcare-provision-for-key-workers 

Official guidelines given by the government says that closing the workplace is unnecessary at the moment. The official health protection team will come to do a risk assessment and if results come back that there are no further cases of Coronavirus in the workplace, you can continue as normal.

If your employee needs time off to look after a dependant who has contracted the virus, it’s important you authorise this. An employee has no statutory right that you have to pay them in this circumstance but we encourage you to be understanding. If the time off is longer than two days, either allow them to take holidays or work from home if possible, take the time as unpaid or make the time up at a later date.

If you send an employee home who doesn’t have any of the symptoms but has been exposed to the virus, you are expected to pay them their normal full pay. We encourage you to ask employees to work from home if this is an option for your business. We understand in a lot of sectors such as hospitality, retail and manufacturing that this isn’t possible.

Employees who have visited the affected areas in the last 14 days must self-isolate and let the NHS know by calling 111. This expectation stands even if they don’t present the symptoms. This information is changing regularly so please keep an eye on updates from the Government site – https://bit.ly/2IQeeR6 as most travel has now been restricted.

We encourage you to cancel all but essential travel if your employees are at a higher risk to contracting the virus. Alternatively, you can have meeting via video call or a phone call.

You have no control in what an employee chooses to do outside of their working hours. However, you can educate staff on the potential risks in traveling to affected areas. There are now restrictions on travel so the prospect of people travelling outside the UK is now significantly reduced.

If the holiday destination or airline have restrictions imposed and your employee cannot travel, you should where possible agree to allow them to take the leave at a later date. Your employees should carefully investigate travel insurance policies.

Existing contractual arrangements will remain in place. If you don’t currently pay Company Sick Pay, Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) will apply.

Normally, SSP was not paid for the first 3 days of illness. The government has confirmed that SSP will be paid from day one, as part of its emergency Coronavirus legislation – further details on this are to be confirmed. The latest advice as at 16 March 2020 was that if you or any of your household have the symptoms, you must self-isolate for 14 days. As such, this time off will be recorded as sickness absence. 

The government plans to help small and medium-sized businesses and employers (fewer than 250 employees) cope with the extra costs of paying COVID-19 related SSP by refunding eligible SSP costs. The refund will be cover up to two weeks per eligible employee who has been off work because of COVID-19.

SSP is currently £94.25 each week rising to £95.85 from 6 April 2020 in line with some of the other employment law changes in April. 

Please ensure you keep records for all sickness as you currently do.

Some employees with zero-hour contracts are at least entitled to statutory sick pay. However, many other people with this contract won’t be paid at all unless you decide to pay them voluntarily.

SSP is only available to employees who earn a certain amount. In addition, staff with zero-hour contracts will only receive SSP if they earn more than an average of £118 per week before tax over an 8-week period.

Normally, SSP was not paid for the first 3 days of illness. The government has confirmed that SSP will be paid from day one, as part of its emergency Coronavirus legislation – further details on this are to be confirmed.

Please ensure you keep records for all sickness as you currently do.

Lay-offs and short-time working are rarely used legal provisions which normally cover a situation where there is not enough work for your employees.

· Lay-offs – an employer can ask an employee to stay at home and not attend work or be paid for a temporary period.

· Short-time Working – an employer requires their employee to work less than their normal contractual hours, for example reducing from 5 days to 3 days per week.

You can only implement lay-offs or short-time working if there is a clause in the contract of employment to do so. If there is no clause in the contract for these provisions, then you can ask your employees for consent to a period of lay-off or short-time working at that time. Your employees may agree to this if they feel their only other alternative may be redundancy.

You cannot impose lay-offs or short-time working without agreement.

Employees with at least one month’s service who fall within the criteria will be entitled to a small fixed statutory guarantee payment to partially compensate them for the reduction in salary.  Employees who are affected for longer periods may be entitled to redundancy pay. To do so, your employees must resign with written notice of their intention to claim this.  You can avoid redundancies if you can guarantee employees 13 weeks consecutive weeks of work within 4 weeks of receiving the employees written notice.

Your employees are entitled to be paid a maximum of £29 per day for 5 days in any 3-month period.  If your employees earn less than £29 a day, they will get their normal daily rate. If they work part-time, their entitlement is worked out proportionally.

Show care and compassion for your employees – things will recover and it’s important to do the right thing.

Banks including Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds and TSB are to offer repayment holidays on mortgages and loans, as part of relief measures – signpost your employees where you can.

We’ve got some information on redundancy in our client portal.

Employment legislation still applies during these difficult times, and you still need to

consult your employees. Consultation is when you sit down with employees to explain your planned changes and get their feedback and input. You need to explain the business reason for consulting with them.

You must discuss your planned changes with each employee who could be affected. This can include employees who are not actually losing their jobs.

You must sit down with each employee individually to explain changes and get their ideas and feedback. The meeting can take place over the phone if you both agree to it and there is a clear need, for example if someone works remotely, or in the current situation where they cannot attend the workplace.