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Employment Alert – England will move to Step 4 in COVID Roadmap from 19 July 2021

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England will move to Step 4 in COVID Roadmap from 19 July 2021.

What’s happening?

On 12 July 2021, the government announced that England would move into the final step of its 4 step plan for easing COVID restrictions. This means that from 19 July 2021 most legal restrictions will be lifted, including:

  • Social distancing
  • Numbers of people who can meet indoors
  • Wearing of face-masks
  • Employees returning to their normal place of work

Why is this important?

Businesses can now lawfully remove the restrictions that they have put in place to manage the risks of Covid transmission. This will be of particular significance to the hospitality industry, which may choose to remove social distancing, limits on customer numbers and the requirement for masks.

In addition, the removal of the requirement for employees to ‘work from home if they can’ means that many businesses will now be encouraging their staff back to the workplace.

What should you do?

The question for employers will be how far to go in removing Covid restrictions for their staff and customers.

Employers will need to balance the wish to ‘get back to normal’ with the reservations of some employees who may be concerned about the risks of catching coronavirus. Consultation is key.

Please read our previous Employment Alert for more information on the legal risks in forcing workers to work in an environment that they consider to be ‘unsafe’.

If you need more information please contact us on 0800 2800 421 or email [email protected] to find out how we can help.

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