25 Jan Guidance on returning to the office
Guidance on returning to the office
The Labour Employer Economic Forum (LEEF) Consultative Group met yesterday afternoon (24 January 2022) regarding the Work Safely Protocol. LEEF confirmed that the transition to office working can commence with immediate effect and encouraged employers to engage with employees to plan, prepare and engage with staff to affect that return in the weeks ahead. NISO suggests that each organisation must adapt its health and safety requirements resulting from a risk assessment of their business in order to plan the pace of a return to work in consultation with their employees.
It is understood that LEEF stakeholders agreed to amend the Protocol by paring back the details of the Work Safely Protocol and to retain the document in the form of a ‘best practice’ guidance for the transition.
The updated guidance will reflect that Covid-19 is still present and the return to office working must be considered in line with obligations under existing Safety, Health and Welfare legislation to provide a safe place of work. It is hoped that a revised guidance document will be finalised and published in the coming days.
Engagement will continue to take place between Government, trade unions and employer representatives, under the auspices of the LEEF, on supporting the transition period and the return to workplaces.