In reply to Jacqueline:

It seems to me the HR role is getting more and more complex. Through the pandemic I felt community members were really conscious about the question of 'fairness' - to those wfh, those who cannot or didn't want to wfh, employers with caring responsibilities, etc., etc. Now it's about shifting the responsibility onto employers, flexible and reasonable adjustments... and there may be legal consequences, too.

In reply to Jacqueline:

Thank you Jacqueline, it will be me that does the risk assessment as I am also H&S. I will complete this and then sit and discuss it with the MD. He is a good guy so hopefully it will be an amicable and successful conversation.

In reply to Steve Bridger:

Steve, i think you are right - in fact the full paper released Monday explicitly says the government are shifting the decision making to employers.

In reply to Steve Bridger:

I have just travelled back from Belgium. There everyone pretty much is wearing a mask in shops , public transport , work places etc. travelling back you get off the Eurostar and it’s noticeable the compliance goes down to very low levels in London / uk.

Personally I see mask wearing and social distancing drifting away to a “hard core” minority very quickly. Not saying that’s good but just saying it’s what I think will happen.

Employers will increasingly find it a Herculean task to try and impose behaviours in the work place that are not prevalent in other social settings. A few will hold the line for a while ( particularly those serving those sections of the public in the hard core mask wearers) but I think people will move on as the legal requirements fall away - which is probably what HMG want.

Hi all, I am an office manager for a 40-person office, and we are just about to make it mandatory to return to the office twice a week after being fully WFH since December 2021. With no legal requirements of self iso etc fast approaching, what are your businesses doing in terms of a reported covid case in the office? Testing is becoming limited, and we want as many people to be in the office as possible, so where does the line draw between covid and just a general cold? Do we send everyone home following a positive case? If so, how long and where does it ever end? I appreciate all the feedback. Thank you, Emily.

In reply to Keith:

Our leadership team is very much of the same opinion, Keith. We're going to encourage mask wearing and good hygiene, keep areas well ventilated and remove the requirement to test regularly but encourage people stay home if they are unwell (whatever the cause) - we pay full sick pay which will help with that. We're choosing to remove our hand santising stations as they have become crowded pinch points and affect visitor flow around the museums.

In reply to Emily:

Hi Emily... and welcome to the Community. I hope you don't mind but it made sense to 'merge' your new thread with this exisiting discussion (before it received any replies).

In reply to Keith:

Yes... indeed.

In reply to Steve Bridger:

...and the view of some employers, just posted on BBC online. 

'I will still ask staff to isolate despite Covid rule change'

In reply to Emily:

Emily

Becky said:

so where does the line draw between covid and just a general cold?

It will be impossible going forward to draw the line between Covid and Flu or a general cold - after free testing for the general public has been abolished. Unless you are willing to pay for private tests - but why would you? The step being taken now is to treat the impact on the person rather than the general disease 

Becky said:

Do we send everyone home following a positive case?

If you mean close the office - no and that hasn't been the advice for a while I think.  If you mean they person then yes if they are unwell or you are talking a precautionary approach. Going forward most people simply wont know if they have / had covid anyway they will just present a set of symptoms. 

The biggest change for us all is changing our mindset to deal with Covid as a disease in 2022 at its current level of severity and impact rather than the more virulent and dangerous Covid 2020/2021

In reply to Steve Bridger:

Contributors (and readers) of this thread may be interessted in this free CIPD Coronavirus Webinar on Thursday.

Living with COVID-19 strategy - advice for employers

3rd March, 12.00 - 13:00

https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_FBEFgm7ASGiUUZsSx7gZZQ

More details of the session behind the Zoom link.

In reply to Steve Bridger:

The recording of the Living with Covid webinar is now available here:

www.cipd.co.uk/.../living-with-covid

In reply to Steve Bridger:

Hi, I wondered if anyone has heard when the new guidance for on how things will work after 1st April is likely to land please?

From that date, most people with Covid 19 symptoms wont be eligible for a free PCR test in addition to LFT's no longer being free, so in reality, we really aren't going to know if someone is positive or not.

What processes are others planning to adopt from 1st April please? Many thanks Teresa

In reply to Teresa:

Teresa said:

What processes are others planning to adopt from 1st April please? Many thanks Teresa

As I said above - we will treat Covid like every other disease and treat the impact on the individual rather than it as a separate stand alone disease. 

I don't think there will be a huge amount of other guidance

In reply to Teresa:

Hi Teresa,

We're fully expecting the Govt to publish new guidance (as it was promised) but it might easily surface at the very end of this month! As soon as we have it, we'll be updating our FAQs on what employers can do about advising staff whether to attend work when they have COVID symptoms.

In the meantime, the sensible approach remains to advise that if an employee is ill they should not attend work (much as Keith says) and take a test as soon as possible. This is especially the case where they may come into contact with other vulnerable people. Once free LFT's are no longer available employers will have to decide if they have the budget to pay for tests to be undertaken by staff or to insist staff buy a test from pharmacists themselves.