Daily Coronavirus Webinar: should business be open or not?

Our Daily Coronavirus Webinar on 30 March included our regular update from Dame Carolyn Fairbairn, as well as a special focus on whether businesses should be open or not. We discussed a wide range of topics, and answered questions from the audience.

Overview:

• The CBI has heard examples of police stopping people getting to work, vans from making deliveries, and even threatening them with fines.
• Some trade unions are putting businesses under pressure to shut down despite firms adhering to government guidance.
• Approaches from the different devolved nations remain too fragmented, causing real disruption for firms on the ground.
• On the issue of whether firms remain open or close, we’re encouraging a joined-up approach across government, regulators, enforcement agencies and the police so that everyone is singing from the same hymn-sheet.
• We’re also encouraging government to continue to monitor the situation to prevent increasing numbers of firms closing, impacting supply chains for critical industries including hand sanitizer and PPE production. 
• The CBI are hearing concerns about the impact of cashflow across supply chains both at home and abroad.
• With government support mechanisms only just being rolled out, businesses are telling us that customers and suppliers are revising contract terms with immediate effect as firms seek to shore-up their cash positions.

Key questions we answered:

1. What exactly is the issue in defining those businesses that should stay open or not?

• Where it starts to get confusing is the interaction between:
  • The key workers list.
  • Any businesses that are not on the “told to close list”.
  • Those who can open but cannot work from home. This is especially relevant for those where the two metre rule is difficult, which is advised but only where possible, which intuitively feels different to the advice being given to people in their home lives.

2. What are the other complicating factors?

• Variations have crept in among the Devolved Nations, with differing advice from UK government – resulting in a construction firm in the North of England telling staff it is ok to work, while colleagues on sites in Scotland were following the First Minister’s decision to close and stay at home.
• Police: plenty of reports last week about turning up at constructions sites threatening arrests if they don’t close, or stopping people on their way to work and threatening to fine them – examples range from zookeepers feeding animals to engineers maintaining aircraft to fly in medical equipment.
• Court of public opinion: businesses being judged on whether they are doing the right thing by staying open, including by politicians and opinion formers.

3. What challenges is this presenting to business?

• For those businesses trying to stay open, this is presenting operational challenges:
  • Transport, getting to work, mostly London but also across UK – tip: issuing workers with a company letter can help.
  • Supply chain disruption – with some suppliers having chosen to close or furloughed workers.
  • Big drop in productivity – where manual work such as construction relies on interaction, and social distancing means firms estimate they are only operating at around 25% productivity.
• Employee relations – examples of employee walk outs, situation especially challenging in Northern Ireland – and across UK pressure from trade unions to close – and pressure from friends and family – factory workers asking why they should put their health at risk when friends are able to take advantage of the Job Retention Scheme and be furloughed at home – ultimately can’t force people to come to work.
• And perhaps the biggest of all, the moral dilemma and business reputation – the CBI spoke to one firm last week where the board was genuinely split – want to prioritise health of their employees, but also health of the business so they have a job to come back to.

4. What more could both business and government be doing now?

• For government
  • Political backing, with clear and consistent messaging – had Government ministers on radio and TV last week giving messages contrary to official Government advice.
  • Continue with additional guidance, as per issued to food sector.
  • Most of all, joined up government – police, regulators, devolved governments.
• For businesses
  • Make sure you are changing workplace setups and practices to enforce the two metre distancing, put up partitions for example in retail, transport arrangements for people to get to work
  • Demonstrate that you are complying, be visible about the changes you are putting in place, involve your unions where applicable, possible role for ACAS.

5. What are ACAS hearing about the fears and concerns employees and employers are finding?

• We have been inundated by employers and employees concerns on how they keep their workers safe. Whether they should remain open and if they ask their staff to work from home, how they should go about doing that.
• We advise employers to think carefully about whether a particular job needs to be done on site or whether it can be done at home.
• Employers also need to be clear on what the government are saying. The government have said if it is absolutely essential for a worker to go to work, then that is fine.
• We also want employers to communicate the steps they have taken to help ensure their staff’s safety.
• Employers need to listen to and understand their staff’s concerns, as this may also provide solutions.

6. Are there guidelines on what safe working looks like?

• For people who work in an office, maintain a distance of two metres. This could mean not hot-desking and sticking to one space.
• For customer-facing employees, you may want to restrict how many customers can come into the premises at any one time or having posters saying you are adhering to government guidelines.
• Your staff need to have regular breaks to wash their hands
• You may want to see whether you can bring cleaners in to clean the office to give staff confidence.

7. Is there an argument for staggering opening times for shops that need to remain open?

• This is a sensible idea to explore. Nothing is off the table as we are in unprecedented times.
• Employers need to think about what their business requirements are and if staggering opening times makes sense then try it to see if it works.
• Employers should talk to their staff about what good ideas are. Employees will understand how they can implement any steps proposed.
• The Health and Safety Executive have good advice on staff safety on their website.