Coronavirus / Covid 19 Absence Policy Elements

Important: do not come to work if you have, or if anyone in your household has, Covid 19 symptoms or if you or anyone in your household has recently been diagnosed with Covid 19. 

Guidance: please have reference to the gov.uk guidance for households with possible or confirmed coronavirus infection:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance

You must call your manager to notify them if you have, or if anyone in your household has, covid 19 symptoms.  You must do this as soon as possible so we can assess whether or not others you may have come into contact with may also be infected.

Those who have covid 19 symptoms must arrange to be tested as soon as possible (i.e. where feasible by making an appointment to go to a drive in or walk in test centre).

If you cannot leave your home to be tested, you must order a home test.  Examples of acceptable reasons for being unable to go to a drive in or walk in test centre include:

  • your symptoms are so severe that you cannot safely travel and there is no one who can reasonably be asked to assist you to travel, or
  • you are caring for a dependant who is ill and cannot be left unattended or reasonably be expected to accompany you to a test centre.

In any event you must be tested within the first 5 days of experiencing symptoms.  Arrange a test using the gov.uk website:

www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/testing-and-tracing/get-a-test-to-check-if-you-have-coronavirus/

You must keep your manager informed of progress with testing and notify your manager of the outcome of the test as soon as this is received.  Test results are usually notified to those tested within 24 – 48 hours.

You must ensure that you request the test outcome be notified to your personal email address (and by text message to your personal mobile phone) and you must forward a copy of the email test results notification to your manager as soon as it is received.  Please ensure you put the words ‘Strictly Confidential’ in the subject line of the email that forwards the result notification.

Data Protection.  Health-related personal data that relates to actual or suspected Covid 19 infection will be processed solely for the purpose of protecting the health and wellbeing of Company employees and will be kept for only so long as is necessary for this purpose.

If the results of a test are negative, you must complete a sickness self-certification form before returning to work.

If the results of a test are positive you must follow the guidance for households with possible or confirmed coronavirus infection (see link above).