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Covid-19 roadmap – plan for shops, gyms and zoos to reopen from April 12

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Originally written by Anna Jordan on Small Business
UPDATED: The Prime Minister has announced that gyms, shops, hairdressers and outdoor hospitality in England could open from April 12 if strict conditions are met, as outlined in his Covid-19 roadmap.
The four-step plan gives a guide to how we will come out of Covid-19 restrictions and Johnson has stressed that any lifting of restrictions will be based on data, not dates.
Conditions would need to be met at each stage of the plan to put the measures in place:

The coronavirus vaccine programme continues to go to plan
Evidence shows vaccines are sufficiently reducing the number of people dying with the virus or needing hospital treatment
Infection rates do not pose a risk of a surge in hospital admissions
New variants of the virus do not fundamentally change the risk of lifting restrictions

Let’s take a closer look at the plan.
Step two
The second step is where we would start to see changes for businesses.
From April 12, we could start to see the opening of certain types of businesses:

Non-essential retail and personal care businesses like hairdressers
Outdoor settings like alcohol takeaways, beer gardens, zoos, theme parks and drive-in cinemas
Indoor leisure, such as swimming pools and gyms
Self-contained holiday accommodation, such as self-catering

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What the Uber ruling means for your small business

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Originally written by Jill Bottomley on Small Business
Last week’s long-awaited Supreme Court ruling in the Uber case has far reaching ramifications for any small business that engages self-employed individuals, in all sectors.
Drivers, engaged by Uber on a self-employed basis, brought a claim that they were not in fact self-employed; instead, they claimed they were “workers” and were therefore entitled to statutory pay, compliant with the National Minimum Wage (NMW) for all “working” time. Included in the claim were rights to statutory benefits, such as paid holidays.
And the court has ruled in the drivers’ favour, potentially costing Uber up to £20,000 per driver.
Uber’s defence was that its arrangement with drivers was typical of the private hire or “gig-economy” industry.
However the implications of the ruling may extend to any which currently engages self-employed consultants or independent contractors.
>See also: What are the benefits of agile working? – a small business guide
The crux of the issue
Many would imagine that a someone found to be a “worker” in this case would be classed as an employee, not as self-employed. However, confusion on these categorisations is where the crux of the whole issue lies.
A worker is not the same as an employee. The status can best

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Covid-19 roadmap – when can I reopen my business in Scotland?

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Originally written by Anna Jordan on Small Business
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has set out the first part of her plan to ease lockdown restrictions for individuals and businesses in Scotland.
Like Johnson, Sturgeon is focusing on data rather than dates, but is taking a more cautious approach than the PM. She is going for phased and sustainable, with at least three weeks between each phase. Although, she did say that ‘if the data allows, we will seek to accelerate the easing of restrictions.’
More details will be laid out in mid-March, but here’s what we know about Scotland’s Covid-19 roadmap so far.
Phase 3 – April 5
Like Johnson’s roadmap, Sturgeon wants to focus on getting children back to school first, opening the economy at a later stage.
We could see some early easing of business restrictions towards the beginning of April.

An extension of what is classed as ‘essential retail’
Click and collect will resume for non-essential retail
Stay at home restriction lifted

Phase 4 – April 26
From the end of April, Scotland would be moving back to its level system, reopening economy and society ‘in a more substantial way’.

Gyms, non-essential retail, hairdressers, bars and restaurants could reopen
Non-essential work could be permitted in people’s homes

Returning to a level

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