Coronavirus (COVID-19) – Clear Advice for Employers

Many of our clients are understandably asking for advice, both from a Health and Safety and an Employment perspective on their responsibilities in relation to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.  Our Senior Consultant, Allison Peasgood, has put together the following useful advice for employers, based on the current guidance.

What Employers Need to Know

Should the Coronavirus (COVID-19) spread more widely in the UK, employers should consider some simple steps to help protect the health and safety of staff in settings such as workplaces, offices, waiting rooms, hotel rooms, student accommodation and boarding schools.

 Signs and Symptoms

• The incubation period of COVID-19 is between 2 and 14 days. This means that if a person remains well 14 days after contact with someone with confirmed coronavirus, they are unlikely to develop symptoms.

• The following symptoms may develop in the 14 days after exposure to someone who has COVID-19 infection:

• • Cough
  • Difficulty in breathing
  • Fever.

• Generally, these infections can cause more severe symptoms in people with weakened immune systems, older people, and those with long-term conditions like diabetes, cancer and chronic lung disease.

How is it Spread?

There are two main routes by which COVID-19 can be transmitted:

• Infection can be spread to people through close contact (within 2 metres) with infected individuals and respiratory droplets generated during coughing and sneezing.

• It is also possible that someone may become infected by touching a surface, object or the hand of an infected person that has been contaminated with respiratory secretions and then touching their own mouth, nose, or eyes (such as touching a door knob or shaking hands then touching own face).

How to Prevent the Spread of Infection

There is currently no vaccine to prevent COVID-19. The best way to prevent infection is to avoid being exposed to the virus.

Public Health England (PHE) recommends that the following general cold and flu precautions are taken to help prevent people from catching and spreading COVID-19:

• Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when you cough or sneeze. See Catch it, Bin it, Kill it!
• Put used tissues in the bin straight away.
• Wash your hands with soap and water often – use hand sanitiser gel if soap and water are not available (for more advice on handwashing click here.
• Try to avoid close contact with people who are unwell.
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.
• Do not touch your eyes, nose or mouth if your hands are not clean.

What Can Employers Do?

From an employment point of view, employers are being encouraged to take the following steps:

• Write to all employees advising them of any measures that are being taken to reduce risks of exposure in the workplace;
• Ask every employee to keep you posted about any recent travel and any future travel plans;
• Consider working from home options, for those roles which allow this;
• Provide advice on how to minimise the risks of spreading the virus.
• Make sure everyone’s contact numbers and emergency contact details are up to date;
• Make sure your managers know how to spot symptoms of the Coronavirus and are clear on any relevant processes in case someone in the workplace develops the virus;
• Make sure there are clean places to wash hands with hot water and soap, and encourage everyone to wash their hands regularly;
• Provide hand sanitiser and tissues for staff, and encourage them to use them;
• Consider if any travel planned to affected areas is essential.

Employees are not recommended to wear facemasks (also known as surgical masks or respirators) to protect against the virus. Facemasks are only recommended to be worn by symptomatic individuals (advised by a healthcare worker) to reduce the risk of transmitting the infection to other people.

Any member of staff who deals with members of the public from behind a full screen will be protected from airborne particles.

Travel Areas of Concern

Stay indoors and avoid contact with other people immediately if you’ve travelled to the UK from:

• Hubei province in China in the last 14 days, even if you do not have symptoms;
• Iran;
• Lockdown areas in Northern Italy;
• Special care zones in South Korea since 19 February, even if you do not have symptoms;
• Other parts of mainland China or South Korea, Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan or Thailand in the last 14 days if you have a cough, high temperature or shortness of breath (even if your symptoms are mild)
• Other parts of northern Italy (anywhere north of Pisa, Florence and Rimini), Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar or Vietnam since 19 February and have a cough, high temperature or shortness of breath (even if your symptoms are mild).

If in doubt, use the 111 online coronavirus service to find out what to do next.

What Happens if an Employee has to Self-Isolate?

There are a number of different scenarios within this, which we have addressed below.  We would recommend that you take a pragmatic approach to this, as your employees will always remember how you handled this situation as an employer and you can gain/lose a lot of goodwill in your decisions at this time.  Have a conversation with them and see what they feel is the best approach for them.

1.  Employee is not sick, but has been advised to self-isolate (government guidance):

Possible options are:

• Authorised leave on nil pay;
• Sick leave (employee would need to self-certificate for 7 days and get a GP note for the remainder);
• Work from home (if the role allows);
• Agree they can take this as annual leave.

There is no obligation for you to pay full pay, but the government is being pragmatic about SSP, given the circumstances and they will be eligible for this.

2. Employee is demonstrating symptoms and have been advised to self-isolate:

This would be normal sick leave, paid at their normal rate of pay (so if you only pay SSP then that is all you need to pay).

3.  Employee is not sick, they wish to return to work, but employer has concerns and is enforcing their isolation:

Possible options are:

• Suspension on full pay for the period imposed by the employer.
• Work from home (if the role allows).

We hope you find the above helpful, but for further advice on this ever-changing situation, call us on 01530 833533 or email info@oms.uk.com.