We have all been busy since the start of the New Year keeping abreast of the emerging picture regarding COVID and associated employers’ responsibilities. Why not check our FAQs for up-to-date information and guidance based on the questions you have been asking. January is a tricky time for many, staff wellbeing is important now more than ever. Look at our wellbeing support for school, wellbeing support for businesses and wellbeing packages to help you all develop the tools to get through the challenges.
The new lockdown measures mean those who are clinically extremely vulnerable or 28+ weeks pregnant should not be attending the work place. Do you have a bank of work that people who need to stay home can carry out? Undertaking work from home can help those who are otherwise restricted people to feel engaged and in touch with their workplace at a time when they are otherwise restricted and staying at home.
Our HR expects have recently delivered a short informative webinar that answered popular COVID questions we are receiving. We have answered one of the questions for you in this short blog.
Question: What should we do if an employee with no underlying health conditions does not want to come to work because they are worried that it is unsafe?
Answer: We are in a pandemic and understand that employees have their concerns, this is a situation that we have had to advise on many occasions over the last 9 months. At this point in time, there is nothing to say that your staff, who do not have any underlying health conditions, cannot be in work (if they cannot carry out their role from home). Therefore, there is no justification for them not to be in work. Employers need to ensure that their employees who are in work are covered by a COVID risk assessment. This should be completed regardless of whether the employee has underlying health conditions or not (this can be site-wide and not individual specific). The risk assessment should hopefully reassure employee/s who are worried about the workplace being unsafe and demonstrate that you, as a responsible employer, have taken the necessary actions to make their workplace as COVID-secure as possible.
As part of employees’ contract of employment, staff do have a duty to attend work unless they are unfit to do so (unfit being the key word here). We highly recommend that you;
- speak to each individual staff about their concerns, each case will be different and their concerns will be very real for them. By having these individual conversations you are demonstrating that you care, that you are willing to listen to what they have to say and you can assure them on a personal level of what you have put in place to make their workplace COVID-secure.
- share your COVID risk assessment with them (which should have already been done). As an added extra you could offer to do a walkthrough of the risk assessment allowing them to see exactly what measures you have in place.
- listen to what their concerns are as there may be something simple that you can address to put them at ease.
There is a bottom line if the above does not satisfy your employees worries and as a result they are not attending work, this would be categorised as unauthorised absence which in itself could be a disciplinary issue. The hope is that it would not get to this point and by completing the above measures you would hope that the employee will feel reassured about coming back into the workplace.
Check out our webinar recording for answers to the remaining 9 questions listed below. Just click on this link and then scroll down to the bottom of the page to download it:
- Do pregnant women need to shield during this lockdown?
- What should I do if my employee attends work when they should be shielding?
- I have an employee who is not utilising their key worker status but has no additional childcare therefore is advising they cannot attend work, what should I do?
- Do normal sickness absence procedures apply for COVID absences?
- Can we ask for evidence that someone is off sick or self-isolating due to COVID?
- What can I do if a staff member advises they are travelling abroad but needs to quarantine on their return?
- What is the latest information on furlough?
- What can I do if a staff member is on their sixth period of isolation since September?
- What steps should I take if a staff member is refusing to attend a management meeting due to COVID-19?
Given the popularity of this webinar we are running another ask the expert session on ‘top questions on managing employee wellbeing during lockdown’, this is taking place on 28th January at 12.30pm. Please click here for further information and to book your place! Don’t forget you can also access our FAQs at any point and if we can help support you with HR services, please get in touch. You can access support from adhoc consultancy projects to full HR partner support, depending on your needs.
If you have any queries regarding this subject, please do not hesitate to call the team on 01924 827869 or email us.
