With the Government’s move to Plan B* seeing the introduction of face masks from Friday and working from home if you can from Monday, businesses will be looking for guidance on the definition of ‘if you can’ and wondering what will be next.

We suggest you ensure your business risk assessments are up to date and you formally review whether your workforce can work from home. The Government has published updated guidance in light of the change, here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-covid-19. More detailed guidance is given to the following sectors:  construction, hospitality and manufacturing.

When assessing your working environment, working from home guidance and your employees, consideration needs to be given to government guidance, safety of staff and customers together with mental health and well-being.

For those remaining in the workplace, businesses should be looking at safety measures including:
* minimising visitors
* improving ventilation
* using one-way systems 
* additional cleaning.

As for Christmas parties, the Government seem to be encouraging these to go ahead. As employers, it’s important that you make a risk assessment of these too. They certainly shouldn’t be compulsory! We suggest that you listen to your employees and balance this with the safety guidance.

You can read more about the announcement here. If you are concerned or want to talk through your decisions we are on hand to help. Get in touch with us today to discuss.

*Information is correct at time of posting – 9am on 9 December 2021.