Are your employees planning to take a holiday abroad this Summer?
We are currently at the point in the year where under normal circumstances we would be counting down the days to our annual Summer holiday. Some of you will have a holiday abroad already booked, some of you may be booking a year or so in advance and some of you will have been waiting patiently all year for this to come around. However, COVID-19 may still impact on whether or not you or your employees are able to jet off to sunnier climates.
Are your employees aware of the guidance?
You will need to communicate with all of your employees to determine if they have foreign travel booked, and if so, should there be a requirement for them to self-isolate for 14 days on their return. It’s then a case of assessing what impact this may have on their ability to attend work when they return.
When speaking to employees it is worth determining when the travel was booked, if it was done so after the 22 May 2020, when self-isolating was announced, you may need to consider if any period of self-isolation should be granted and if so if it should be paid or unpaid.
Staff who leave the UK without considering the impact of the quarantine on their employment may be subject to disciplinary proceedings up to and including gross misconduct, if they fail to comply with the conditions of their contract of employment. Employers are therefore required to notify employees of this issue and as an employer you must set out clearly your expectations of any employee who is considering leaving the UK whilst the current restrictions are in place. We would recommend that you communicate this clearly as soon as possible.
Some overseas travel is exempt from the restrictions and further information can be found here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-travellers-exempt-from-uk-border-rules
If you need any HR advice concerning this topic, please get in touch with your HR Consultant. We can also help with any policies that need to be updated to reflect any changes and likewise any contract queries or alterations. If you are not a FusionHR client, we are happy to talk to you about your options and look at any HR support that would be beneficial to you. Just call the team on 01924 827869, who will be happy to help.
We are trying to keep information up-to-date but as guidance is constantly changing, please check our latest blogs and also refer to our COVID FAQ questions which you can access here.
