Since the coronavirus outbreak was first reported in China, over 185 countries have been infected, which has had a significant international impact.ย
This led to the development of the UKโs Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme which has been used to furlough around 8.4 million employees. For people who are still working, many have had to begin working from home to limit the spread of the virus, however as workplaces begin to reopen this is starting to change.
Euan Lawrence (pictured), Partner in the Employment team at Blacks Solicitors, discusses what employees and employers need to be aware of as people start returning to their workplace…
What can you do if you donโt feel safe returning to work?
If people donโt feel safe about going back to work amid the pandemic, the first and most obvious step is to raise any concerns with the employer.
Itโs possible to ask the employer for sight of their risk assessment and for details of the measures taken to mitigate the risks in the workplace associated with the pandemic. If the employerโs response isnโt satisfactory, the employee should confirm why this is the case before taking any steps such as refusing to come into work.
The Employment Rights Act
Sections 44 and 100 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 provides specific safeguards for employees who donโt feel that they are returning to a safe working environment. Specifically, there is protection from being dismissed or subject to any detriment for:
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Any employee who reasonably believes that circumstances connected with work are harmful or potentially harmful and raises this with the employer;
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Any employee who reasonably believes that they are in serious and imminent danger which they canโt be expected to avert and because of this, leaves work or refuses to return to their place of work;
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Any employee who reasonably believes that they are in serious and imminent danger and has taken appropriate steps to protect themself (or others) from the danger.
Clearly, the key word is โreasonablyโ. If the employer is rigorously enforcing social distancing, providing for regular cleaning, offering suitable hand sanitation and generally complying with the guidance of Public Health England, it is unlikely that an employeeโs general concerns about returning to work due to the pandemic will be sufficiently โreasonableโ to afford him or her the protection of the Act.
How to combat fears
An employeeโs concerns may be entirely unrelated to the work environment. They may, for example, be concerned about the safety of public transport which they need to take to get into work. From a strictly legal point of view, this isnโt relevant to the employer but it should be taken into account from a people management perspective.
One novel way for employees to combat this could be to make a flexible working application, which is not only related to the hours worked, but also โwhereโ the work is done. Any employee with 26 weeksโ service who hasnโt made an application in the previous 12 months is eligible. While this device was historically used primarily to afford flexibility for those with parental responsibilities, this is no longer the case and it can be used for any situation, including where employees feel unsafe.
Employers who receive such requests must be reasonable and can only refuse for a number of prescribed statutory reasons. If homeworking has been operationally effective during lockdown, it could be challenging for employers to find a legitimate reason to refuse these requests.
Can you be fired if you donโt want to return to work?
Fundamentally, this comes down to the specific circumstances. If the employer has done everything they reasonably can to ensure a safe workplace and an employee still refuses to come into work without a valid reason, the employee is failing to comply with reasonable management instructions. This may, subject to a fair disciplinary process, be grounds for a disciplinary sanction.
On the other hand, if the employee has reasonable grounds for feeling that the workplace is unsafe, dismissal could constitute automatic unfair dismissal under Section 100 of the Employment Rights Act 1996.
It is worth bearing in mind that some employees may not be able to attend work due to childcare responsibilities as a consequence of schools being closed. The situation can also become complicated if an employee has a disability that makes them particularly vulnerable and have been advised by their doctor that they shouldnโt attend work. At present these employees will be deemed to be shielding and should not be required to attend work.
Employers would be wise to approach possible dismissals of employees exercising these rights with significant caution.
For more information on this and other employment law issues, please visit https://www.lawblacks.com/personal/employment-law/.
