Coronavirus (Covid-19) has had an unprecedented impact on all of us, including employers, who have had to adapt to the rapidly changing situation and deal with the substantial impact on their businesses. We are in unchartered territory but our expert employment lawyers are providing employers with clear and practical guidance on how to handle all the issues.
From taking steps to protect the health and wellbeing of staff, and dealing with high levels of absence and homeworking, to costreducing measures such as redundancies, lay-offs and the newly introduced and government-funded "furlough" leave - we are here to help.
Here are just a few of the areas we have been helping clients with so far:
- Self-isolation and social distancing - how they impact at work
- Absence and pay (including the new rules around statutory sick pay)
- Homeworking
- Vulnerable employees (such as those who are pregnant, over 70 or who have underlying health conditions) and discrimination issues
- Employees with caring or childcare responsibilities
- Options available to employers to reduce costs (such as furloughing employees, redundancies and lay-offs, recruitment and pay freezes and reducing bonuses, where possible, amongst others)
- Deciding which if any employees are key workers and are still able to send their child(ren) to school despite the closures
- Steps to protect the health and wellbeing of staff
- Employee travel
- Emergency volunteering leave
- Data protection issues
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
