Coronavirus Advice for Businesses

There is a great deal of noise about coronavirus out there and truthfully, the advice to businesses is changing on an almost daily basis because there is still so much that we don’t know.

What is Coronavirus?

Coronavirus is a blanket term for a group of viruses which includes SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) and MERS (Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome). This most recent virus has been named COVID-19. At the time of writing, no-one knows the exact cause of the outbreak.

Severity

Scientists are still trying to uncover the full picture relating to COVID-19. It seems to range in severity from person to person, although what hasn’t been reported is the general health of those individuals. For example, is it more severe in a less healthy person? Data on those unfortunate enough to perish from it would suggest yes. What is unusual about this virus is that it doesn’t appear to be as severe in children as other viruses.

Spread of the illness

Scientists are learning more as time goes on, but based upon current knowledge, the virus is most likely to be spread when someone comes in close contact with someone who is infected, and the risk of being infected increases the longer the contact persists. For the purpose of this, close contact is defined as 2 metres or less.

It seems that contact with ‘respiratory secretions’ are the main way of transmitting the disease, either directly or when someone touches something that has become contaminated, for example, by touching an infected doorknob or even the hand of someone infected, and then touching their own mouth, nose or eyes. At the moment, it is not that those who are asymptomatic are infectious to others.

Advice to the public

Public Health England has provided well-publicised advice about covering the nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing, and frequently washing the hands. Other obvious advice is to clean surfaces that people touch frequently.

Advice to employers

If one of your employees becomes unwell in the workplace and they have recently travelled to one of the countries affected by COVID-19, there are certain precautions that you should take.

1. You should move the person who is unwell to an area at least 2 metres away from other people. The best thing to do is to put them in a separate room, and if you can open a window in that room, do so.
2. The person who is unwell should ring NHS 111 from their mobile and explain their symptoms, including that they have returned from an affected country in the last 14 days.
3. As far as possible, the unwell person should avoid touching things and should be advised to cover their mouth and nose with a tissue when they cough or sneeze.
4. It is preferable, if they need to use the bathroom facilities, that others should not use it until it has been thoroughly cleaned.
5. If someone infected comes into work, contact Public Health England. They will find out who the person has been in contact with and carry out risk assessment(s).

Current thinking is that it is unlikely that workplaces will need to close but be prepared. Ask your employees to take their laptops and other equipment home daily so that they can work from home if necessary. Give reception staff mobile phones and switch phones through to them so that they can still deal with your clients.

Pay

Obviously, employees should inform their employer as soon as possible if they are unable to attend work, and they should follow the usual company procedure. Fit notes are not required for the first seven days of any sickness absence, and if someone has been told to self-isolate for 14 days, they may not be able submit a fit note until after that. They will be entitled to statutory sick pay so if you pay occupational sick pay, it’s good practice to pay this. Similarly, if you, the employer, tell your employees not to come into work, you should continue to pay them.

If one of your employees has to take time off to care for a dependant, there is no statutory entitlement to be paid, but it may be your usual practice to do so. It’s a different situation if the employee does not want to go to work. Depending on the role, you may be able to offer home-working or possibly paid or unpaid leave. Ultimately, if you are complying with your health and safety responsibilities, and your employee refuses to attend, this could result in disciplinary action but discretion may be appropriate.