We hope you
are well and staying safe. Happy New Year to you.
Due to the announcement last night of the national lockdown, you may have decided that you will need to close your business and furlough your employees or ask them to work from home.
If you are furloughing the employees you will need to ensure that you have a furlough agreement in place confirming that they are being furloughed and you need to keep a copy of the written agreement for 5 years. If you have previously had an agreement in place and there was no confirmed date when it will end, you can continue to use this. The current furlough scheme has been extended to 30 April 2021.
If you are lucky enough to continue to remain open, you still have a duty to provide a Covid safe workplace and due to the current restrictions, you may need to consider if you need to make some adjustments.
If you have employees working from home, you have a duty to make sure that they are safe to work at home and we would suggest that you also consider their mental health. Keeping in touch with them regularly and arranging team calls is a good way to interact with each other. Also, still hold regular meetings such as 1-2-1 so that you can discuss any concerns with them.
You may want to consider any employees that are on furlough to take some of their holiday entitlement during the furlough period. You will need to pay them the full salary for the holiday but can use furlough payment towards the holiday – claim 80% and top up with 20%. This will mean when your business opens, you will not have to juggle too much holiday being taken.
If you have any questions please contact us on 01245 261883.
Stay safe.