Living with Covid: employers and employees get to grips with Covid in the workplace

With the legal requirement to self-isolate having ended, employers will once again have to create and apply new rules to their workplaces. Rather than legislation, voluntary guidance now simply “advises” people with COVID-19 not to attend the workplace. Employers should therefore consider how they create and apply these new policies in a fair manner, which is also safe for staff members and visitors, especially anyone that is clinically vulnerable.

Due to the existence of these new rules, there is the risk of presenteeism arising – presenteeism is the culture of employees continuing to work, despite having reduced productivity. In this instance, and many others, the main cause of this reduced productivity is illness. Since the beginning of COVID-19, there has been a general drop in presenteeism as a result of employees being forced to self-isolate and remain home if feeling unwell. It appears generally that attitudes to calling in sick have changed.

Employees tend to be inclined to attend work whilst unwell as a result of financial pressures. The current statutory sick pay is £96.35; this means that for many people in England, taking sick leave may mean bringing home less, or sometimes no, money whatsoever. With the removal of the requirement to self-isolate, the government has, alongside this, removed the COVID-19 provisions for statutory sick pay and employment and support allowance regulations. In addition, anyone that voluntarily decides to self-isolate, but cannot work from home, will in the majority of cases end up with a loss in pay. This is concerning as people will no longer be financially supported to stay at home if they are ill.

Employers will also face issues with having to develop their own health and safety policies. The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 states that employers are responsible for ensuring “as far as reasonably practicable” that both employees and non-employees are protected from workplace risks. The Equality Act 2010 also requires employers to make “reasonable adjustments” for disabled employees to protect them against discrimination

Presenteeism is not beneficial for the unwell employee, neither is it beneficial to an employer’s company. Outbreaks of COVID-19 in the workplace pose risks to the running of a business, along with an impact on the operation of services due to sickness absences. To counter this, employers should consider implementing policies across their companies to encourage self-isolation and a fair rate of pay when employees are infectious with COVID-19. If this is not possible, any particularly vulnerable employees should undergo individual occupational health risk assessments, which look into putting in place reasonable adjustments. Examples of this could include minimising/capping the amount of employees present in the workplace at the same time, making sure that any workspaces are properly ventilated, and considering the usage of face masks where appropriate.

Employers will also need to think about things such as whether their employees are vaccinated. Whilst the majority of UK adults have had both of their COVID-19 vaccinations, around one in three adults have not come forward for a booster vaccine.

Data has shown that boosters are key to reducing the risk of serious illness from COVID-19, as well as hospital admissions. Employers will have to work alongside their employees in order to encourage the uptake of the COVID-19 vaccination. However, this is not easy, especially with the government having reversed their policy of healthcare workers being compulsorily vaccinated in order to remain in employment. It is suspected that COVID-19 levels will remain tolerable during spring and summer of 2022. Yet by winter it is expected that there will be a seasonal increase in respiratory viral infections, coinciding with decreased population immunity, increasing the risk of COVID-19.

Losing the progress which had been made in respect of presenteeism will not only be a step back generally, but will also place those who are most vulnerable at a greater risk. Mandatory self-isolation having ended, with financial support packages being removed at the same time, means that the government is not properly supporting people in protecting themselves and others from COVID-19.

We look with interest to see what happens with Covid as 2022 unfolds, especially if cases are starting to rise again from the BA.2 Omicron variant and people are no longer wearing face masks.

Satinder Kaur, Employment Team
Lawson West Soliciters, Leicester

Our Employment Solicitors are available to provide the appropriate advice and guidance in relation to any aspect of Covid or employment law.

Please contact us on Tel: 0116 212 1000 or 01858 445 480, alternatively complete the free Contact Us form here and we will get in touch as soon as possible.

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