Tag Archive for Coronavirus

Is my small business exempt if one of my staff is pinged?

By Timothy Adler on Small Business – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs

The government has carved out two major exemptions for workers if they are pinged by the NHS Covid app and have to self-isolate. But is your small business exempt?

First, it has approved a blanket exemption for supermarket depot workers and suppliers to come back to work, despite being alerted by the NHS Covid-19 app that they have been near someone with Covid. This is despite whether they have been vaccinated or not. Instead, they will be allowed to take daily lateral flow tests for seven days instead of self-isolating.

>See also: Do staff have to self-isolate if they’ve been pinged by the NHS Covid app?

Second, the government has announced 16sectors where workers could be exempt from having to self-isolate.

Is my small business exempt from being pinged by NHS Covid app?

Workers in these 16 sectors may be exempt from self-isolation if their work is essential and critical, and if their company applies for permission from the government.

EnergyCivil nuclearDigital infrastructureFood production and supplyWasteWaterVeterinary medicinesChemicalsTransportMedicinesMedical devicesClinical consumable suppliesEmergency servicesBorder controlDefenceLocal government

Frustratingly for small business owner-managers, these are not blanket exemptions — your small business must submit the name of

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Do staff have to self-isolate if they’ve been pinged by the NHS Covid app?

By Timothy Adler on Small Business – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs

If you get pinged, is it a legal requirement (a) for individuals to self-isolate or (b) for employers to enforce it?

Being pinged by the NHS Covid-19 app is entirely different being asked to isolate from NHS test and trace system. If you are asked to self-isolate by NHS test and trace it is a legal requirement. If you are pinged by the NHS Covid-19 app at the moment it is just guidance. You are advised but not legally obliged to self-isolate for 10 days, which means that that if an employer cannot requiree you to necessarily self-isolate, They can ask you to come into work. But then the employer has to bear in mind their obligations and duties under the Health and Safety at Work Act.

Do people on zero-hours contracts have the legal right to go into work?

They do. The government is saying that it’s crucial that you self-isolate, but you are just advised to self-isolate. The individual should tell their employer so that the employer can make an assessment as to whether you’re creating a risk for someone else by going into the workplace.

>See

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Do staff have to self-isolate if they’ve been pinged by the NHS Covid app?

By Timothy Adler on Small Business – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs

If you get pinged, is it a legal requirement (a) for individuals to self-isolate or (b) for employers to enforce it?

Being pinged by the NHS Covid-19 app is entirely different being asked to isolate from NHS test and trace system. If you are asked to self-isolate by NHS test and trace it is a legal requirement. If you are pinged by the NHS Covid-19 app at the moment it is just guidance. You are advised but not legally obliged to self-isolate for 10 days, which means that that if an employer cannot requiree you to necessarily self-isolate, They can ask you to come into work. But then the employer has to bear in mind their obligations and duties under the Health and Safety at Work Act.

Do people on zero-hours contracts have the legal right to go into work?

They do. The government is saying that it’s crucial that you self-isolate, but you are just advised to self-isolate. The individual should tell their employer so that the employer can make an assessment as to whether you’re creating a risk for someone else by going into the workplace.

>See

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20% of business workers self-isolating due to Covid

By Timothy Adler on Small Business – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs

UPDATED: One in five small business staff are estimated to be self-isolating having been “pinged” by the NHS Covid-19 tracking app.

With an estimated 20 per cent of the small business workforce self-isolating, independent shops, restaurants and bars are having to close for the interim, unable to find staff.

Katie Nicholls, head of UKHospitality, told the Financial Times self-isolating was even worse for a small business in the hospitality sector, with up to one third of staff being forced to stay at home in some cases.

>See also: Pitalia Capital to invest £50m in small businesses

Self-isolating is wreaking havoc with small business owners up and down the country just as the country reopens fully on July 19 — so-called “Freedom Day”.

Indeed, more than half a million people were pinged by the NHS Covid app in England in the week to July 7, the highest figure since its launch.

New workplace guidance tells companies they are legally responsible if employees do not isolate, only exacerbating the problem.

Workers “pinged” by the NHS Covid app are told to self-isolate for 10 days if they have come into contact with an infected person,

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20% of business workers self-isolating due to Covid

By Timothy Adler on Small Business – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs

One in five small business staff are estimated to be self-isolating having been “pinged” by the NHS Covid app.

With an estimated 20 per cent of the small business workforce self-isolating, independent shops, restaurants and bars are having to close for the interim, unable to find staff.

Katie Nicholls, head of UKHospitality, told the Financial Times self-isolating was even worse for a small business in the hospitality sector, with up to one third of staff being forced to stay at home in some cases.

>See also: Pitalia Capital to invest £50m in small businesses

Self-isolating is wreaking havoc with small business owners up and down the country just as the country reopens fully on July 19 — so-called “Freedom Day”.

New workplace guidance tells companies they are legally responsible if employees do not isolate, only exacerbating the problem.

Workers “pinged” by the NHS Covid app are told to self-isolate for 10 days if they have come into contact with an infected person, in what is now being called a “pingdemic”.

>See also: Average small business makes £300,000 on Amazon

And the pingdemic can only get worse as Covid infections rip through the population.

The

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