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Parfitt Cresswell Weekly Employment Law Bulletin 2
Parfitt Cresswell • May 19, 2020
This article is brought to you by our sponsors Parfitt Cresswell.
Health and Safety requirements upon returning to work
Last week the government announced their plans for a gradual easing of lockdown with many employees encouraged to start returning to the workplace. To support these recommendations, the government published guidance titled ‘Working safely during the coronavirus outbreak’. This was further supplemented by eight separate guides applying to specific types of workplace. These guides are as follows:
- Offices and contact centres;
- Construction and other outdoor work;
- Factories, plants and warehouses;
- Labs and research facilities;
- Other people’s homes;
- Restaurants offering takeaway and deliveries;
- Shops and branches;
- Vehicles
- Risk Assessments
There already exists a requirement under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations for businesses to have in place suitable risk assessments. This is to ensure that employees and others affected by the business are kept safe, and any risks are identified and minimised. The new COVID19 guidance (and any subsequent updates) will require employers to update their risk assessments to cover the new set of risks presented by coronavirus.
Templates and examples of risk assessments in different work environments are currently available on the HSE Website, but we would anticipate this being updated with more Covid19 specific examples in the coming weeks.
Requirements for employers
Employers must make their COVID19 risk assessment available to all staff, with those with over 50 employees also publishing this on their website. Employers should also consult with employees returning from lockdown/furlough, either directly or through unions/health and safety representatives (for larger employers).
In addition to making the risk assessment available to employees, employers should also look to ensure employees are fully aware of any measures put in place to protect health and safety. Employees should also be warned of the consequences of failing to adhere to these measures. In situations where employees have failed to follow the guidance issued by their employer and have placed others at risk, there is the potential for disciplinary action to be taken.
The Working Safely Guide
highlights areas that all businesses should be focusing on, with further detail provided in the eight sector specific individual guides. All employers returning to the workplace will need to consider how to facilitate social distancing and reduce risk, considering matters such as:
- Is it possible for employees to work from home, either full or part time?
- Should shifts and breaks be staggered to minimise contact with others both when travelling to/from and whilst at work?
- Workplace adjustments such moving workstations, installing screens and facing employees away from each other to maintain safe working distances
- Consideration of common areas and the movement of individuals within the workplace whilst carrying out tasks
- Analysis of individual tasks that require more than one person to work together to enable greater social distancing/reduction of risk
- Provide hand sanitiser and handwashing facilities
- Providing signage and posters so that employees and visitors understand the requirements
- Cleaning requirements for equipment and the wider workplace
- Reducing sharing of equipment where possible
- Consider risks of specific individuals and particularly those at higher risk (such as those shielding, clinically extremely vulnerable or clinically vulnerable)
- The list above provides some of the more common considerations for employers. However, with each workplace presenting its own unique risks (even those within the same sector) employers should be carefully looking at all the measures they are able to put in place to reduce the ongoing risks from coronavirus.
What about employees not wishing to return to work due to concerns over health and safety?
Existing legislation exists to protect employees from dismissal or detriment if they have raised health and safety concerns, giving them recourse to the Employment Tribunal if action is taken against them (even with less than two years’ service). Regardless of their own view of the risks, employers should therefore proceed with extreme caution before automatically classifying a refusal to attend work as unauthorised absence for which disciplinary action can be taken.
Employers should look to investigate the employees concerns very carefully to establish whether they have a valid cause for concern. The employee would have to demonstrate that they held a reasonable belief that attending work would put them in ‘serious and imminent’ danger. Note that the employee must have a ‘reasonable belief’, but this is a fairly low threshold for employees meet.
Regardless of whether the employer believes that they have done everything required to keep their employees safe, an employment tribunal can still decide that an employee had a ‘reasonable belief’ of serious and imminent danger and is therefore protected.
Much will come down to this reasonable belief point, and although employers may be able to take further action, they should tread very carefully before doing so. Practically speaking, if an employee elects to stay at home due to their reasonable belief that they face a serious and imminent danger, they will be entitled to stay at home, but this will be unpaid. This may therefore make it a less attractive option for employees to choose.
Employers should exercise particular caution when an employee who is citing health and safety concerns is also likely to be disabled, pregnant or is in a category vulnerable to coronavirus.
As always, before taking action that could potentially lead to a claim being brought against the employer in the Employment Tribunal, it is worth seeking specific legal advice to ensure that any risks are minimised.
To find out more or take advantage of our complimentary initial consultation via telephone or video call contact us today on 0800 999 4437
or email enquiries@parfittcresswell.com.
LinkedIn is a key channel for personal branding, so your LinkedIn profile is the launchpad to building a strong professional network. The channel is also the place to be if you wish to continue relationships of key people you meet at zoom networking events allowing you to easily stay in touch after making the effort to attend the meeting. As well as being the touchstone for nurture and lead generation a well optimised LinkedIn profile is on the same level as making a good first impression when you meet in person. How do you optimise your profile? 1. Make sure you have a current and professional head and shoulders photograph of yourself. You are on the platform to do business so ensure you appear to be there for that reason so a picture with your partner, favourite pet or vehicle doesn’t cut it. It should be a current photograph as it could be embarrassing putting a ten-year-old photo on the platform and when you meet a contact in person you look nothing like your photo so it could end up being a little like a bad first date. Be authentic. 2. Also use Canva.com to create a background image as why miss the opportunity to promote your business. If you have staff on LinkedIn create an image for all of them to use as their background as it’s a little like giving them all a company vehicle with no costs attached. 3. Treat your LinkedIn profile as an online resume and ensure you complete every section – a. The about section – I split this into two sections i. My Background ii. What I Do Now iii. Include an email and phone number at the bottom of this section b. Experience – show at least the last two positions c . Education d. Licences and Certifications e. Skills and Endorsements – You can have 50 of these so put in as many as you can for example if you were a bar person you could include customer service. f. Recommendations – request these from people you know 4. Use keywords in your headline – think of the words you would use if you were looking for your goods or services. 5. Join groups which could be a. Within your industry b. Where your target market is c. Services you have an interest in If you require any help or advise we offer training or talk you through the process via zoom. Blog written by Linda Cloke of We Do Social Media Ltd Contact: Linda@wedosocialmedia.co.uk or call 07769943756
According to the Health & Safety Executive, over 11 million workdays are lost each year due to stress at work! The latest Employment Law Bulletin from our sponsors Parfitt Cresswell Solicitors focuses on the topic of stress in the workplace and the actions that employers can take to defend themselves against claims arising from this. In the Employment Law Bulletin expert Philip Luff covers: • What stress is • The duties of an employer • The potential action that an employee can bring against their employer for work related stress, and offers tips on how employers can best protect themselves against workplace stress claims To read the article and find out more about Stress Related Claims in the workplace click here . If you would like legal advice regarding an Employment Law matter take advantage of Parfitt Cresswell Solicitors’ complimentary initial video/telephone consultation with one of their legal experts. Call 0800 999 4437 or email enquiries@parfittcresswell.com today to arrange your free initial consultation.
This article is brought to you by Parfitt Cresswell Solicitors Extension of the Furlough Scheme (CJRS) On Saturday 31st October the Prime Minister announced a further national lockdown in England to address the increasing rate of Covid-19 infections throughout the UK. This lockdown commenced on 5th November and will remain in place until at least 2nd December 2020. Under the previous tiered ‘local’ lockdown arrangements, the Government had announced two Job Support Schemes which were intended to succeed the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (furlough scheme). These schemes were known as the ‘JSS Closed’, aimed at businesses that had been forced to close under the tiered restrictions and the ‘JSS Open’, a scheme for businesses who although affected by Covid-19, were still able to open. These schemes were due to replace the existing furlough scheme when it ended on 31 October 2020, with the Government support significantly reduced when compared with the original CJRS. However, along with the announcement of a national lockdown throughout November, it was also announced that the CJRS would be extended for a further month. A few days after this, the Chancellor announced that this extension of the furlough scheme would now run until the end of March 2021. As such, the JSS is not likely to resurface until at least April 2021 (if at all). How had furlough changed By way of a reminder, the CJRS has been through several changes since its introduction in March 2020, from the Government initially funding 80% of an employee’s salary up to £2,500, with government support reducing in recent months as restrictions eased. In October 2020, the month before the scheme was due to end, the government contributed 60% of unworked hours up to a cap of £2,187.50, with the employer paying the additional 20% along with employer national insurance and pension contributions. How will the extension work? In simple terms, the extension of the Furlough Scheme puts employers back to the same level of government contributions that were available in August 2020, with the Government funding 80% of eligible employees’ salary, but the employer having to contribute both employer national insurance/pension contributions themselves. The current understanding is that the furlough extension will operate largely as it did before, however the following now applies: • The extended scheme will run until 31 March 2021. • The employer or employee are not required to have previously used the CJRS • To be eligible, the employee must have been on the employer’s PAYE payroll by 23.59 on 30 October 2020 and the employer must have made a Real Time Information (RTI) submission for that employee by that date. • The employee can be furloughed either full-time or flexibly (for part of their hours). Employers will need to report and claim for a minimum period of seven consecutive calendar days. • The government will pay 80% of eligible wages for any unworked hours, (up to a cap of £2,500) with the employer paying employer NIC and pension contributions on these unworked hours. Employers will need to pay the employees for any hours worked as per usual. • The employer can choose to top up to 100% if they wish but is not obliged to. • The Job Retention bonus for employers (£1,000 for each employee kept on until the end of January 2021) will no longer be able to be claimed in February as planned, but will possibly be introduced at a later date to help avoid the impact of the furlough scheme ending. • The Government will review the scheme in the New Year, so it is still possible that increased employer contributions could be required prior to the end of March. As with all these announcements, further detail and guidance will follow from the government in due course. If you require further legal assistance regarding the CJRS or and other employment law issue, take advantage of our complimentary initial consultation (available via telephone or video call) today by calling 0800 999 4437 or email enquiries@parfittcresswell.com
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