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Are any suppliers exempt from this?

Small suppliers (defined by reference to certain financial indicators) are temporarily exempt from these new restrictions until 30th March 2021 in order to account for the difficulties to small suppliers during the Covid-19 pandemic.

There are also certain industries that are exempt from these restrictions (for example financial services).  The Secretary of State may also create further exemptions framed by reference to kinds of company, supplier, contract, goods or services or in any other way.

Related FAQs

Do you need a new written agreement for Flexible Furlough?

You should already have a written furlough agreement with your furloughed employees, but if you move them to flexible furlough then you need a new agreement that confirms the new furlough arrangement.

So, you’ll need to speak to your employees and confirm the hours of work with them in writing (or reach a collective agreement with a recognised Trade Union.

As before, an employee does not need to provide a written response. But the agreement needs to be documented in writing.

What impact does the Regulations have in respect of matters which arise from Fire Safety Audits - e.g. if balconies with wooden/decking elements are now considered higher risk and whether that would fall to developer to remedy the materials used to construct balconies?
The duty would fall on the owner of the building to control the hazards presented by balconies made from combustible materials. There may be scope (via warranties/indemnities or other terms) arising from the contract between the developer and owner for the owner to seek to recover the cost of remedial works.
Are there steps to ensure they will have access to an open register (BSR) & building safety assessments etc?

The Act should make it easier for residents to obtain relevant information. It includes an obligation for the Principal Accountable Person to prepare a strategy for promoting the participation of residents, including the information to be provided to them and consultations about relevant decisions. The strategy must be provided to residents, and there will be provision for residents to be able to request information and copies of documents from the Principal Accountable Person. The type of information and the form in which it is to be provided will be set out in secondary legislation in due course, but the explanatory notes anticipate that it will include:

  • Full current and historical fire risk assessments•Planned maintenance and repair schedules
  • The outcome of building safety inspection checks
  • Information on how assets in the building are managed
  • Details of preventative measures
  • Details of fire protection measures and the fire strategy for the building
  • Information on the maintenance of fire safety systems
  • Structural assessments
  • Planned and historical changes to the building
What is the current guidance for court of protection hearings?

The current guidance issued by Mr Justice Hayden confirms that remote hearings may be conducted using the following facilities and that this will be the default position until further direction:

  • By way of an email exchange between the court and the parties;
  • By way of telephone using conference calling facilities;
  • By way of the court’s video-link system, if available;
  • The use of the Skype for Business App installed on judicial laptops;
  • Any other appropriate means of remote communication, for example BT MeetMe, Zoom or FaceTime.
Can we require employees to have their temperatures taken on the way in to work, and is this something we should be doing?

If such testing is regarded as a “reasonably practicable step” which has been identified as an appropriate control following a risk assessment then it is something you can do.

Although you can’t physically force someone to have something intrusive done, this is very likely to be a reasonable management instruction and therefore if someone refuses to have this done as a condition of entry into the work place then disciplinary action may follow.

Where this is something that is required of employees, employers should be letting their staff know that this is one of a number of measures that are being introduced into the workplace for their own safety. If the employer can explain, in advance of the return, why temperature checks need to be taken, what the consequences of the results will be- i.e. will they be sent home if over a certain temperature, whether this data will be stored (and if the sole purpose is to determine whether or not they are fit to attend work on a particular day then why are they being stored), and the fact that temperature checks are a requirement of entry to company premises for everyone, then there shouldn’t be significant resistance to this measure.

Large scale temperature checks have in some businesses become part of the “new normal” working environment.