April 2022 changes to employment and Covid-19
As of the 1st of April, laws have changed in England regarding employment and Covid-19. Here at GNR, we’ve broken all the changes down into 3 different sections: general changes, changes to Health and Safety policies, and changes to data protection obligations. Read our blog below to understand how these changes may affect your business and employees.
General changes
The UK Health Security Agency now advises that Covid-19 is to be treated the same way as flu and other respiratory infections. As an employer, you must be aware of the symptoms, and may want to consider how to support staff with symptoms. Self-isolation is no longer a legal requirement.
This means that employers should consider assisting employees who have symptoms to stay at home and avoid contact with others. This includes working from home if possible. The same advice also applies to employees who do not have symptoms 5 days after a positive Covid-19 test. You may also want to consider the needs of any staff who are at increased risk of contracting Covid-19.
Changes to Health & Safety policies
There have also been a multitude of changes to the requirements of Health and Safety policies regarding Covid-19. Employers no longer have to explicitly refer to Covid-19 in Health and Safety risk assessments. However, you must continue to reduce the spread of respiratory infections through:
Cleaning
Ensuring good ventilation
Encouraging and enabling vaccination
If there is an outbreak in your workplace, you must also promote and apply these safety measures more vigorously. You may also want to consider continuing to undertake risk assessments to monitor case numbers, however this is not a necessity.
Changes to Data Protection
Following the change of these rules, the Information Commissioner’s Office has also published new guidelines for employers regarding data protection. The use and retention of any health or vaccination data will still need to comply with data protection laws. Furthermore, you will need to review if the personal data you’ve collected is still necessary. If it is determined that the data is no longer relevant, you must ensure that it is securely disposed of.
In regards to your employees’ vaccination status: if you are collecting vaccination information, there must be a compelling reason to do so. You must also make it clear to your employees about what this achieves and how your knowledge of their vaccination status will help to achieve this. Use of this data must be fair, relevant, and necessary for a specific purpose.
Finally, data protection laws do not prevent you from keeping staff informed about potential or confirmed Covid-19 cases within the workplace. However, this information must be limited to no more than necessary, and individuals cannot be named.
Do you want to know more about these recent changes to the government’s Covid-19 advice for employers? Book a free discovery call to see how we can help, or sign up to receive a newsletter of legal updates.
The above information is correct as of 20 April 2022 and may be subject to change. You should continue to check developments at gov.uk for further details. The above does not constitute legal advice.