On 22 June 2020, the government set out a series of steps for further relaxing shielding guidance which will come into effect 1 August 2020 in England and Scotland and 16 August in Wales.
- The guidance now states that from 1 August 2020, shielding employees can return to work if they cannot work from home
- Companies need to ensure that have carried out the appropriate Covid-19 risk assessments and measures put in place to ensure that those who are vulnerable are kept safe at work where working from home is not possible.
- Statutory sick pay (SSP) will no longer be available to those individuals who have previously been told to shield and means that claims can no longer be made under the Coronavirus SSP Rebate Scheme
- The guidance remains advisory. More detailed will be published in due course..
- The shielding programme will be paused on 31 July 2020, unless government see a spike in cases.
- Employees will still be entitled to SSP if they become ill or they need to self-isolating.
Aspire Business Partnership ("Aspire") provide WK1 with practical and commercially sound advice in relation to all aspects of compliance, business strategy and conflict resolution. WK1 engage Aspire on a retained basis through which Aspire provide WK1 with advice on an ad-hoc basis.
https://www.aspirepartnership.co.uk/News/3466/covid-19-ssp-to-end-for-shielding-employees
