Employers Be Aware

There is an increasing groundswell of opinion pushing the government toward a reduction in its lockdown measures, at least on a staged basis, so as to allow certain businesses to return to work from their ordinary premises.  Many employers (and indeed employees) are discovering that with the implementation of strict distancing policies at work and appropriate protective measures (such as protective work clothing, strict cleaning regimes and physical partitioning and barriers) businesses are able to commence the process of scaling up their business again.

These proposals remain within the spirit of ‘we are all in this together’ with employees and employers showing high degree of collaboration during this international emergency.  It is also likely to represent the green shoots economic recovery.  Despite such ‘espirit de corps’ employers should still beware.  An employer should consider the following:

An employer can still be held liable for personal injury, and for a failure to provide a safe working environment, to an employee even if the protective measures that were implemented were based upon advice that was sound at the time it was given.  The biggest problem about Covid-19 is that so  little is known about it.  Advice that may be given now may well prove to be in incorrect and one only has to look at the equivocal stance that is now being taken on face masks to realise that what was originally perceived to be the right thing to do, can change over a matter of days.

Employers can be held  vicariously liable for any injuries suffered by an employee in the course of performing their duties for their employer.

Given that Covid-19 can cause serious permanent injury, particularly to the lungs, as well as death, a prudent employer should give serious consideration to the measures it proposes to implement before its employees return to work. 

There may well be plenty of ‘espirit de corps’ at the moment but it is worth pausing to consider the extent to which employee goodwill would be outweighed once normality resumes, if they were to suffer lasting injuries.  The situation would be aggravated if a veracious claims handling industry were to actively seek out such personal injury claims having seen the closure of the PPI claims window.

It is a difficult time to be an employer at the moment.  The government has put in place protections for the employed (through the Furlough scheme) and intends to implement a scheme for the self-employed from June but there is no direct protection for those who own and manage their businesses and are principally remunerated through dividends.  The government is, through its policies, asking this category of people to bear a greater proportion of the load which has arisen from C-19. 

Clearly we all have to work together in order to get through these unprecedented times but employers should be wary to balance commercial pressures and growing public sentiment to be able to reopen the economy, against the risks and short lived goodwill which may be lost or forgotten in the event of employees’ suffering injuries or worse.

Couchman Hanson Solicitors offer pragmatic commercially minded legal advice.  We have just released a recorded webinar covering this area for owner managers of businesses and executives. Please click HERE to watch.

If you would like to discuss this with us further, please do contact us on 01428 722189.