With restrictions slowly easing, there are plenty of employers who will be looking to get their employees back to the workplace as soon as they can. But many of us have got used to working from home and for some, it’s now the preferred option. We take a look at some of the questions employers will be facing on this issue.
How quickly can we require employees to return to the workplace?
For some individuals a return to the workplace will be a major adjustment. Many of us will have been working at home for up to around 16 months, and the knock on effect of returning to the workplace may be significant. It might include a spike in travel costs, loss of personal time, issues with pet and childcare, clashes with health and wellbeing activities – the list goes on.
This therefore could mean a phased return to work, devising a rota that provides employees with a blend of office and home-based working or staying entirely remote for the time being.
It is crucial that you maintain open and transparent lines of communication with your employees throughout your decision-making process. Make them aware of the steps you are taking to protect them and what will be expected of them upon their return to the office.
What health and safety obligations do we have?
Even in a pre-COVID world, employers have a duty of care to their employees. The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 outlines the wide-ranging obligations employers have to protect the health, safety and welfare of their employees while they are at work.
In light of the coronavirus outbreak and as businesses look to return to some form of normality, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has issued new guidance for employers to enable their employees to work safely during the pandemic. Firstly, the HSE advises employers to update their risk assessments to effectively manage the risk of COVID in the workplace and better understand what measures need to be taken to protect your employees.
Precautions such as how social distancing will be maintained, office cleaning and hand hygiene, signage to remind people to maintain social distancing and so on, all need to be considered. The common thread in all government and HSE advice is that employees uphold their duty of care to all employees while the coronavirus remains a very real threat in society.
How can we make the workplace COVID-secure?
The precise methods you use to make your workplace COVID-secure will vary from business to business. Through your risk assessment, you should have identified what changes you need to make in your workplace to ensure the safety of your employees from exposure to the coronavirus. New hygiene protocols, PPE and changing office layouts to aid social distancing are just some of the measures that employers are taking.
Where possible, keeping employees 2m apart should be enforced in line with government advice. If this isn’t possible, the government advise observing a ‘1m+’ distance. This means keeping a minimum of 1m apart with other acceptable protocols such as face coverings, screens to create barriers between workers and having employees work side-by-side rather than face-to-face to mitigate risk.
Frequent cleaning of surfaces, door handles and high-traffic areas like corridors and turnstiles is key to reduce the spread of coronavirus.
Some other things you can do include:
- Use tape or paint to ‘cordon off’ workspaces;
- Use markers and posters to remind people to observe social distancing;
- Limit movement of people between areas, unnecessary visitors and movement between buildings/sites.
If you have any questions on any of the above, please get in touch with the office: sally.phillips@wardwilliams.co.uk or call 01932 830664.