Lockdown 3 has begun in England leaving employers facing further difficulties with working parents having to juggle home schooling and vulnerable people having to self isolate again.
The Government has said the latest lockdown is needed to try to prevent the NHS from becoming overwhelmed by the continued surge in coronavirus cases.
Primary and secondary schools will close to almost all pupils, and people have been instructed to stay at home.
Joan Pettingill, Head of Employment Law & HR Services at Wake Smith Solicitors, looks at the main points and further help for businesses.
Main points:
- The 2m rule applies again.
- Clinically extremely vulnerable people should not attend work
- Employers will need to manage the impact of working parents struggling to attend work/work full time;
- All non-essential shops, leisure and entertainment venues are now closed with pubs and restaurants allowed to offer takeaway food only.
- All schools have been ordered to switch to online learning and this summer's exams will not go ahead
- Businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors will receive a grant worth up to £9,000 per property until Spring.
- Separately, £594m will be made available to affected firms outside these sectors by local authorities. In total, the package of measures is worth £4.6bn across the UK.
- Indoor and outdoor sport is also cancelled except for elite competitions.
Joan said: “The help is in addition to business rates relief and the furlough scheme which has been extended until the end of April to help reorganise staffing.
"These packages are to help sustain jobs, so workers can be ready to return when they are able to reopen and will go some way to reassuring the worst affected businesses.
“However employers still face challenging times with juggling available staff, furlough, redundancy and other employment issues.”
England's lockdown rules are due to be reviewed on 15 February.
For help with all your employment law queries, please contact Joan Pettingill at Wake Smith Solicitors at [email protected] or call 0114 224 2087.
