New guidance: Acas issues guidance for employers about the coronavirus

Employers will welcome guidance from Acas to help them decide what steps they may need to take in relation to their employees because of the coronavirus, given their statutory duty to safeguard their health and safety.

The guidance ‘Coronavirus: advice for employers and employees’ deals with issues such as:

• Hygiene at work.
• Employees who do not want to go to work.
• Sick pay.
• People who have been quarantined, or isolated themselves because of coronavirus.
• Temporarily closing the workplace or the business because of it.

It also alerts employers to the dangers of a potential discrimination claim if they fail to consider whether a particular measure, for example requiring employees to wear face masks or take medical tests, might disadvantage a particular group, such as those of a particular religion or age, which may be discriminatory.

Operative date

• Now

Recommendation

• Employers should check out the Acas guidance on the Acas website.