JERSEY: COVID-19 - Level 3 relaxation of lockdown requirements
Useful information
Following approval of the Covid-19 (Workplace Restrictions) (Jersey) Regulations 2020 (the "Regulations") https://www.jerseylaw.je/laws/enacted/Pages/RO-065-2020.aspx by the States Assembly, subject to adherence to Guidance on Indoor Workplaces, the restrictions on office working have now been lifted.
In light of this, we thought it would be useful to share some information on what this means for you and your business.
Overview
Indoor workplaces can allow employees to resume work based activity where it is essential for the business function and where this activity is unable to be done from home.
Under the new Regulations, unless the workplace, or a class of workplace (which includes offices, warehouses, manufacturing facilities and workshops)is restricted by Order (which is not on current medical advice the position for offices) the provisions of the Workplace Regulations and the associated criminal liability in the Workplace Regulations will not be engaged.
In addition, compliance with the Guidance on indoor workplaces will not become a specified condition under the Workplace Regulations and Order, so the situation that will prevail is that if an indoor workplace does not comply with the Guidance, that will not be an offence under these Regulations, albeit it may still be an offence under the Health & Safety Legislation.
The Minister could however take action to prohibit that workplace from being open, or prohibit the workplace from being open, subject to it complying with any relevant guidance or any other specified condition.
However, working from home should remain the default operating model at the present time and firms will be required to undertake a full risk assessment and implement risk mitigation measures, prior to allowing staff to return to their offices.
Firms will be expected to limit the number of staff permitted to return to the office working to the bare minimum and only where work is unable to be undertaken at home.
Resources and further information
Those firms that wish to re-open may wish to display a "we are workplace ready" poster to demonstrate that they have followed the indoor workplace guidelines. These, along with other workplace resources, can be downloaded here:
https://www.gov.je/Health/Coronavirus/PublicHealthGuidance/Pages/CoronavirusFlyersAndPosters.aspx
For advice on Working Safely during COVID-19, please find the attached details.
I also attach the relevant link to the Guidance on the Government of Jersey website.
All queries relating to the application of the workplace guidance and which is unable to be resolved by reference to the published guidance should be directed toworkplacecovid@gov.je.
Thank you to the IoD Jersey branch for sharing this information.
