COVID continues to be a big problem for both employees and employers. What should you do if someone in your workplace tests positive? Government guidelines are often confusing, which is why we’ve put together this post to help you out.
What should the employer do?
If you’re the employer, you need to set your own rules revolving around COVID. Right now, nobody has to isolate. The government is pretty much leaving it up to businesses to decide how they want to act.
Realistically, it makes sense to tell your employees to stay off work until they test negative or feel better. Otherwise, they could spread the virus to other staff members, and you find yourself with a depleted workforce.
It’s also super important to communicate with the employee during this whole process. Talk to them, ask them how they feel and if they’re able to do any work. Give them the option to work from home if they can. A good example is one which recently happened to us at Zest4Talent. Julie, (Recruitment Support) tested positive on her first day of employment, so instead of being office based she worked from home. As you can imagine, it wasn’t the first day she had envisaged, but being flexible in the workplace is what sets a company apart from others.
However, you might have employees that struggle because they do feel really staying in contact with them and checking in regularly to see how they are is the first step. If and when they feel well enough to work, let them work from home until they’re ready to return to the office.
COVID is here to stay for the foreseeable future. At Zest4Talent, we’ll keep reminding ourselves of the latest government advice, while working with our employees, clients and candidates to ensure they have the safest working environment possible.
Zest4Talent is a specialist recruitment agency providing bespoke recruitment solutions across all business sectors.