Good afternoon, All our best wishes for a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We look forward to catching up with you in the New Year. From all of us at, Cook Lawyers

New self-isolation requirements announced today New filtering rules for DBS certificates Keeping children safe in education: proposed revisions 2021 1. Covid-19 new announcement today – Self-isolation cut to 10 days from Monday 14th December Self-isolation for contacts of people with confirmed coronavirus will be shortened from 14 to 10 days across the UK from Monday 15th December. The change will also apply to people instructed to quarantine after returning from countries which are not on the travel corridor list. Anyone who has been self-isolating for 10 days or more will be able to end their quarantine on Monday. The change has already been announced in Wales, but this new announcement will apply to all four nations. A statement from the four UK chief medical officers (CMOs) said: “After reviewing the – Read More…

There is a common misconception that a current or former employee is entitled to a ‘good’ reference or, more accurately, that an employer cannot make any negative comments about an employee.  This is simply wrong. In the education sector a useful starting point is the School Staffing (England) Regulations 2009 (SI 2009/2680) which states that where a candidate applies for employment at an academy or maintained school in England then the governors of the previous school must, if asked, advise in writing whether the candidate has been the subject of capability proceedings within the last two years and, if so, give written details of how the concerns arose, for how long they lasted and the outcome of any proceedings. In addition, the DfE non-statutory guidance on ‘Staffing and employment advice – Read More…

Summary The PM gave a statement at the coronavirus press conference on 26 November 2020.  The full statement is here. In addition, the Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, made a statement to the House of Commons and announced which regions would be in each tier. The full guidance on the different tiers is here – Local restriction tiers: what you need to know The criteria used to determine which tier a region is placed in are as follows:- case detection rates in all age groups case detection rates in the over 60s the rate at which cases are rising or falling positivity rate (the number of positive cases detected as a percentage of tests taken) pressure on the NHS The regulations require the government to review the allocations every 14 days, – Read More…

Summary The PM made a statement in the House of Commons today on the Covid-19 Winter Plan.  The full statement is here. By the Spring, the advances in treatment, in testing and vaccines should ‘reduce the need for the restrictions we have endured in 2020.’ A new regional tiered approach was announced.  Full details below. On Thursday 26 November, the government will announce which areas are in which tier. The new rules will come into effect from the beginning of Wednesday 2 December. The government will announce the arrangements that will be in place over the Christmas period shortly. The full guidance is here – Local restriction tiers: what you need to know All tiers Across all tiers, everyone: must wear a face covering in most indoor public settings, unless they have – Read More…

In a landmark decision, R (Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and another [2020] EWHC 3050 (13 November 2020), the High Court (Chamberlain J) has held that workers are now entitled to the same protection as employees against suffering detriment if they take steps to protect themselves by refusing to work when faced with the serious and imminent danger of being exposed to COVID-19. They are also entitled to be provided with the necessary PPE, if the circumstances require. The Court decided that the UK government failed to properly implement into UK law Article 8(4) and (5) of the EU Health and Safety Framework Directive (89/391/EC) by limiting protection from detriment on health and safety grounds under section 44 of the Employment – Read More…

Summary We are seeing increasing requests in relation to pregnant employees over 28 weeks (i.e. in their third trimester) to be working from home. The basis for these requests was because the Guidance for full opening: schools makes specific reference to Occupational Health guidance published by the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (RCOG).  Part of that guidance, which schools were being urged to follow, related to pregnant workers in the healthcare sector. On 10th September, the RCOG guidance was archived and replaced with new guidance which, in summary, recommends that an individual risk assessment is the key.  There is, therefore, no blanket advice that a pregnant employee over 28 weeks should not be in school. The School Guidance Guidance for full opening: schools – Updated 5th November 2020 Staff – Read More…

On 5th November 2020 the Policy Paper relating to the Extension of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme was published. Latest Guidance (health) A reminder of the definitions:- Clinically extremely vulnerable You may be at high risk from coronavirus if you: have had an organ transplant are having chemotherapy or antibody treatment for cancer, including immunotherapy are having an intense course of radiotherapy (radical radiotherapy) for lung cancer are having targeted cancer treatments that can affect the immune system (such as protein kinase inhibitors or PARP inhibitors) have blood or bone marrow cancer (such as leukaemia, lymphoma or myeloma) have had a bone marrow or stem cell transplant in the past 6 months, or are still taking immunosuppressant medicine have been told by a doctor you have a severe lung condition – Read More…

The government have released guidance for individuals who have been identified as clinically extremely vulnerable. Any individual in this group will have previously received a letter from the NHS or their GP. The latest guidance applies to clinically extremely vulnerable individuals only. Others living in a household with someone who is clinically extremely vulnerable are not advised to follow this guidance. They should instead continue to attend work and school in accordance with the general advice and regulations set out in the National Restrictions guidance from 5 November. Attending Work Individuals identified as clinically extremely vulnerable are strongly advised to work from home. If they cannot work from home, they should not attend work for this period of restrictions. If they cannot attend work for this reason, they may be eligible – Read More…

Latest Guidance New Guidance was published on 1st November following the PM’s announcement of a national lockdown in England between 5th November and 2nd December.  Further details are below. The PM’s Commons statement on coronavirus: 2 November is here. We are still waiting for guidance on the Clinically Extremely Vulnerable, although the latest guidance from yesterday indicates that they should work from home where possible, but they should not go to work.  See below for more details. Additional Details Businesses and venues To reduce social contact, the Government has ordered certain businesses and venues to close. These include: all non-essential retail, including, but not limited to clothing and electronics stores, vehicle showrooms, travel agents, betting shops, auction houses, tailors, car washes, tobacco and vape shops. indoor and outdoor leisure facilities – Read More…