COVID-19: how will the ending of restrictions affect your workplace strategy?

News

  • Workplace

24 February 2022

Endemic

On Monday the Prime Minister announced the ending of all COVID-19 restrictions in England with effect from today (24 February), including the legal requirement for people with the virus to self-isolate. Rules are also expected to be relaxed - although not necessarily scrapped - in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Publication of the Government’s plan to ‘live with COVID-19’ - weeks before many had expected it and with daily case numbers still in the tens of thousands - will clearly have a number of implications for workplace and FM professionals.

Duty of care - the moral issue
With no legal requirement for people who test positive to stay at home, should they be allowed in the workplace and what precautions should organisations take to prevent infection spreading among the workforce?

Updated Government guidance that people who test positive should stay at home will remain in place until 1 April. After that they will simply be encouraged to ‘exercise personal responsibility’ in the same way as if they have the flu.

Workplace risk assessments and policies should therefore take into account the possibility of employees who are infected sharing workspaces and facilities with colleagues who are vulnerable and/or not fully vaccinated.

Workplace COVID-19 testing could provide reassurance, both for individuals and for the organisation. However, tests are not free for employers and from 1 April PCR and lateral testing will no longer be free of charge to the general public, making it much less likely that individuals will test themselves before coming to the workplace

Place-based considerations
With the potential for greater number of people - including those carrying the virus - to share workspaces, how will this affect occupation levels, ventilation requirements, cleaning protocols and hybrid working arrangements that have been put in place over recent months?

One option could be to arrange zones based not on the type of work being carried out, but on the vaccination status or health of workers, or even on how comfortable individuals are working in proximity to others.

Keeping rules in place on face coverings, handwashing and other safety measures might help to reassure employees that the workplace is safe.

A risk to hybrid working?
Some organisations may see the removal of restrictions as the green light to end the remote working ‘experiment’. But will those happy with flexible working be willing to return to a central workplace, especially if they feel there is a greater risk to their health? Forcing them to do so could result in unhappy, less productive staff, potentially leading to a loss of talent and even tribunals.

People
With the ending of self-isolation infection levels are likely to rise, at least in the short term. Consideration should therefore be given to workplace policies on sick pay (the £500 Test and Trace support payment has also been scrapped) and absence due to ‘long COVID’. What provisions are in place to support workers’ physical and mental health? The ending of restrictions could raise the stress and anxiety levels of workers already experiencing mental health and wellbeing issues.

As we (hopefully) move from pandemic to endemic, IWFM will be discussing these and other workplace issues, such as managing resilience and responding to future risks, with key stakeholders and members of our volunteer community to consider how we can best support members. We anticipate that this will include updated advice, guidance and insight, including a dedicated webinar, so please look out for further updates.

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