It’s been a whirlwind hasn’t it!  Keeping ourselves and our families safe is our number 1 priority.  But what about employees needing to know their rights and obligations at work and, for employers, making sure that managers are keeping their businesses afloat while trying to look after staff matters ….. and all the financial consequences?

The announcements have come thick and fast over the last fortnight, and the guidance and emergency legislation which follows has only answered some of the questions.

As specialist employment law solicitors, we have been working round the clock to ensure that we can help all our employer and employee clients with their important and urgent questions. E.g.

• I’m worried about catching or transmitting the virus.  Do I have to go to work?
• Do we have to offer / accept furlough leave – the government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme?
• What about holiday accrual, and doing other jobs, training or volunteering during this time?

We have already advised many clients on coronavirus issues affecting them at work, including:

• a group of casual theatre staff sent home immediately;
• an employee with underlying health conditions who has been made redundant;
• an employer needing to keep its operation running to serve NHS staff, but with lower but unpredictable demand;
• an employer wishing to avoid redundancies by using the government job retention scheme but without enough cash reserves to pay staff meanwhile.

Some businesses are super-busy as a result of the Covid-19 emergency.  Others are extremely quiet or even closed for business.  Whichever camp you find yourself in, there are staffing matters to consider and these need to be done carefully (even if very quickly) to make sure you are not creating problems further down the line whether for employee relations or to keep out of the Employment Tribunal.

For pragmatic and reliable decision making, you may need:

• a robust, legally drafted and tailored Furlough Agreement for affected staff or advice on the implications of signing one;
• advice on entitlement to sick pay;
• support with Redundancy decisions, or appeals against them;
• advice on claims like automatically unfair dismissal (on health and safety grounds), which is likely to be a common one (and doesn’t require 2 years’ service!).

As ever, advice is better taken before rather than after making these big decisions …. especially before you resign or dismiss!