Duty of care
Employers have a duty of care towards their employees which includes not exposing them to unnecessary risk. In this case, that may include not putting them in a position in which they could become infected by the virus without taking all reasonable precautions.
Your duty of care, where coronavirus is concerned, may differ depending on an employee’s specific circumstances, for example, if they are in the risk category, for example over 70 or if they have underlying conditions.
Wellbeing
In addition to having a duty of care to protect health and safety, you also need to consider their wellbeing. Consider any wellbeing initiatives you have and remind employees of them, for example, an Employee Assistance Programme.
Give employees the facts
The risk of becoming infected will differ depending on personal circumstances but it is important to convey to employees the reality of the situation to keep concern proportionate to the risk and encourage good hygiene.
Travel advice
For those who need to travel, please stay current with COVID-19 developments and travel advice found at the Gov.uk website. Exercise caution while traveling, practice the above prevention points.
Useful links for further up to date information
For the most up-to-date information you can visit
The Department of Health and Social Care or see the below links for various official sources.
uk – Action Plan
If an employee has a confirmed case of coronavirus
Your normal sickness absence and pay policy will apply to employees who have coronavirus; however, you may wish to offer them furlough, if possible. Under the extended Job Retention Scheme rules, employers can decide whether to continue with sick leave, or furlough employees. This means that sick leave and furlough are interchangeable but cannot be taken at the same time — it has to be one or the other. If the employer decides on sick leave and Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), they cannot claim wages via the Scheme, but they may be able to recover the SSP.
If an employee has returned from an affected area, then develops symptoms and stays at home
This is best treated as sickness absence due to the display of symptoms and your normal policies will apply. You may wish to consider other options such as working from home as a temporary measure while the employee self-isolates or furlough if appropriate.
Employers who have concerns about an employee’s exposure
Where you have concerns about a non-symptomatic employee (for example, an employee who has recently returned from an affected area but has displayed no symptoms, or if it is known or suspected that the employee has had contact with someone known to have the virus but does not live with them) then the best advice is to follow the Government and NHS advice and advise the employee to self-isolate as needed.
Employees who are pregnant
Current guidance outlines that pregnant employees should be considered as clinically vulnerable. Employers already have a legal duty to assess the risks that the workplace could pose to pregnant employees and must take steps to mitigate these. The threat of the coronavirus must therefore also be taken into account when decisions are made regarding whether pregnant employees can continue to conduct their role safely.
Employees who refuse to come to work due to concerns
If an employee is worried about catching the virus and refuses to attend work, Acas suggest listening to the employee’s concerns and offering reassurance. Your response to this will depend on the actual risk of catching the virus at work. It will be different for every employer and will depend on specific circumstances including whether anyone in the workforce has already been diagnosed or there is another real risk of exposure. You may decide to offer a period of paid annual leave or unpaid leave or allow the employee to work from home where this is feasible. Your response should be reasonable to the specific situation.
During the current lockdown, Government advice in Scotland and Wales is that employees must work from home where they can. In England, the Government stance is that employees should work from home unless it is not reasonable to do their job from home.
Although nations are setting out roadmaps out of lockdown, announcing dates on which businesses may be permitted to re-open, employees are still being advised to work from home until further reviews have been undertaken.
