When staff test positive for Covid

With self-isolation rules around Covid now scrapped (as of April 1) - what is your advice, as an employer - to staff who now test positive for the virus?

The Government may have removed its advice that workers with Covid should isolate for five days, but we believe that this remains a sensitive topic.

And while some research suggests that around a third of employers in England are lifting the self-isolating advice in their own workplace – our own poll says different.

In a recent survey, we asked employers within our wide network across the region, including Peterborough, what their advice would be to members of staff who now test positive for Covid.

Sixty-three per cent felt the employee should continue to ‘work from home’ - and around a third (31 per cent) suggested only working if they felt well enough to. Six per cent would suggest to the employee that they do not work at all, but interestingly, none of the respondents said they would ask the individual to come into the office. It does seem that despite the rules being scrapped and guidance changing yet again, many employers continue to have their employees’ best interests at heart – and rightly so. We know that a healthy and happy workforce is a much more productive one, and for the many employees who continue to work from home, the lifting of the self-isolation rules won’t necessarily impact on their everyday working life.

The poll results show that employers are not suddenly going to change any arrangements that are working well. However, we do understand that for those who are unable to work from home, there may be financial or other implications if they are too unwell to come into the office. In these instances, it is vital that employer and employee agree a solution that is satisfactory to both parties.

Our findings are a contradiction to those of a recent survey of 250 business leaders in England, which suggested that 31 per cent had already decided to scrap their self-isolation policies for Covid-positive employees once the requirement was dropped.

It found that 48 per cent of businesses planned to continue requiring employees who test positive for the virus to work from home once the rules change. With rules having now been lifted, it does really remain at the employers’ discretion as to the advice they give their employees. It may be worth considering a clause within your company’s sickness policy on what is expected of staff who test positive for the Covid.