'Autumn and Winter Plan' released by UK Government

The UK Government has released its ‘Autumn and Winter Plan’ to tackle COVID-19 over the coming months.

Here’s how the plans could impact your business:

• A booster jab rollout will start soon for some people, including those over 50. That means you may need to think about your absence policies around vaccination during work hours.
• The government will launch a new campaign to encourage flu vaccination. You may want to consider measures to encourage uptake to help prevent illness among your staff.
• In England, anyone working inside a CQC registered care home must be fully vaccinated by 11 November.
• Frontline staff in wider healthcare settings in England will likely need to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and flu. We’re expecting the government to make a decision on this in winter.
• Contact tracing will continue, as will the need to take a PCR test and self-isolate if symptomatic.
• Statutory sick pay for self-isolation will stay in place. That means you’ll still need to pay staff at least the statutory rate of sick pay throughout their self-isolation.

Finally, as a Plan B, the government may consider asking people to work from home again if they can. So, it’s a good idea to be ready to arrange short-notice remote working.

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