Tag Archive for COVID-19

Hot Business News Today

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

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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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Hot Business News Today

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

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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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Hot Business News Today

Do I have to pay staff who are self-isolating?

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By Calum Covell on Small Business – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs

With the lifting of lockdown restrictions from July 19, there is likely to be an increase in Covid-19 positive test results, increasing the number of staff who are self-isolating.

Between July 19 2021 and August 16 2021, it is a legal requirement to have your staff self-isolating if they test positive for Covid-19 or have been notified by Track and Trace to self-isolate.

This all means that employers are likely to encounter self-isolation of employees, if they have not already, so being aware of the options for you and your employees will help.

It will depend on the circumstances as to why staff are self-isolating as to whether you must pay them, the amount you will have to pay them and what you are able to claim back.

>See also: Small business owners face increased national insurance contributions

Can an employee work from home if they have tested positive for Covid-19 or have been told to self-isolate?

Yes. If an employee is well enough to work from home and can perform their role at home, there is no reason why they cannot do this and be paid as usual for their

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Hot Business News Today

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

by  •  • 0 Comments

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

Read more...

Hot Business News Today

Do I have to pay staff who are self-isolating?

by  •  • 0 Comments

By Calum Covell on Small Business – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs

With the lifting of lockdown restrictions from July 19, there is likely to be an increase in Covid-19 positive test results, increasing the number of staff who are self-isolating.

Between July 19 2021 and August 16 2021, it is a legal requirement to have your staff self-isolating if they test positive for Covid-19 or have been notified by Track and Trace to self-isolate.

This all means that employers are likely to encounter self-isolation of employees, if they have not already, so being aware of the options for you and your employees will help.

It will depend on the circumstances as to why staff are self-isolating as to whether you must pay them, the amount you will have to pay them and what you are able to claim back.

>See also: Small business owners face increased national insurance contributions

Can an employee work from home if they have tested positive for Covid-19 or have been told to self-isolate?

Yes. If an employee is well enough to work from home and can perform their role at home, there is no reason why they cannot do this and be paid as usual for their

Read more...

Hot Business News Today

Government ‘should write off’ £1.7bn of Covid loan debt

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

The government should write off £1.7bn worth of Covid loan debt if thousands of small businesses shopkeepers are not going to go to the wall.

Independent high street businesses now owe four times as much as they did a year ago, with firms owing a total of £1.7bn, said Bill Grimsey, ex-boss of supermarket chain Iceland and DIY chains Wickes and Focus DIY.

According to Grimsey, small shops have survived the pandemic by borrowing, but are now faced with the task of paying it back. He called for a government “forgiveness scheme” to write off taxpayer-backed loans for viable small businesses.

>See also: HMRC to go easy on small business strangled with Covid debt

Unless the government steps in, the UK could face a “tsunami” of shop closures this autumn, the veteran retail boss said.

Grimsey pointed out that France is working on ways to help its small businesses get out from under the mountain of Covid debt.

Former chancellor George Osborne has also said the government should just write off small business Covid-19 financial support, while the Federation of Small Businesses said Bounce Back Loan debt should be converted into

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Hot Business News Today

Government ‘should write off’ £1.7bn of Covid loan debt

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

The government should write off £1.7bn worth of Covid loan debt if thousands of small businesses shopkeepers are not going to go to the wall.

Independent high street businesses now owe four times as much as they did a year ago, with firms owing a total of £1.7bn, said Bill Grimsey, ex-boss of supermarket chain Iceland and DIY chains Wickes and Focus DIY.

According to Grimsey, small shops have survived the pandemic by borrowing, but are now faced with the task of paying it back. He called for a government “forgiveness scheme” to write off taxpayer-backed loans for viable small businesses.

>See also: HMRC to go easy on small business strangled with Covid debt

Unless the government steps in, the UK could face a “tsunami” of shop closures this autumn, the veteran retail boss said.

Grimsey pointed out that France is working on ways to help its small businesses get out from under the mountain of Covid debt.

Former chancellor George Osborne has also said the government should just write off small business Covid-19 financial support, while the Federation of Small Businesses said Bounce Back Loan debt should be converted into

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Hot Business News Today

20% of business workers self-isolating due to Covid

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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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Hot Business News Today

20% of business workers self-isolating due to Covid

by  •  • 0 Comments

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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