Pandemic or no pandemic, if you are an employer you have a duty to look after the health and safety of your staff at work.
So whether you are open or about to re-open, make sure you have looked at all your health and safety policies to make sure they are up to date and reflect any additional steps needed to keep your workforce as safe as you can in these extraordinary times.
The government recommends:
1. Carrying out a risk assessment:
2. Setting out cleaning, hand washing and hygiene procedures:
3. Maintaining government recommended social distancing, where possible.
4. Where it’s not possible for people to follow the government guidance on social distancing, do everything practical to manage the risk of transmitting Covid 19.
What happens if I don’t meet health and safety obligations as an employer?
You could be opening the door to legal claims. A couple of examples:
• if you ask your employee to work and they think that the infection control measures you’ve put in place aren’t enough to protect their health, they might resign claiming dangerous working conditions and claim constructive dismissal; or
• if you dismiss someone for taking specified actions relating to health and safety this could be an automatically unfair dismissal.
We are currently offering a free 15 minute consultation to discuss employment law issues relating to the pandemic. To book your call please email Sarah Holmes:
s.holmes@pmsolicitors.co.uk