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Government Issues Work from Home Guidance (again)

As set out in the Prime Minister’s announcement yesterday, England has now moved into “Plan B” as the Covid-19 Omicron variant spreads across the UK.  This means that working from home guidance will be reintroduced in England from Monday 13 December 2021.

It also means that face coverings will become compulsory in certain venues from Friday 10 December 2021, and the NHS Covid Pass will become mandatory for entry into certain settings from Wednesday 15 December 2021.  We are told that further guidance on these changes will be available “in the coming days”.

As we saw with previous lockdowns, the current working from home guidance is advisory but not mandatory – those who can work from home are only being “advised” to do so.

Employers will want to be having internal discussions as soon as possible about their organisation’s stance on the new guidance.  Whilst it won’t be illegal to require staff to come into work, there are obvious health and safety and reputational risks that lie alongside this.

The Prime Minister has also said that office Christmas parties should still go ahead, but it would be prudent for employers to give careful consideration as to how these should be managed.

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