Important Covid-19 Updates for Employees
Guidance for employees who need to self-isolate
There are three reasons employees may need to self-isolate:
- You are experiencing symptoms of coronavirus
- A member of your household is experiencing symptoms of coronavirus
- You have been contacted by NHS Test and Trace
In all circumstance's employees must self-isolate immediately and contact their line manager as soon as possible. For more information on self-isolating please visit: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/self-isolation-and-treatment/
If you receive a test you should notify your Line Manager of your test result immediately on receipt, they will then notify HR Support Desk.
 If you are experiencing symptoms
You will need to isolate for 7 days and notify your line manager. Members of your household will also need to isolate for 14 days.
Your Line Manager will contact HR Support Desk who will help to arrange a priority test for you.
If you test negative for coronavirus - you and your household members can end isolation and resume work as normal.
If you test positive for coronavirus - you will be required to isolate for the full 7 days from the first day of symptoms.
If a member of your household is experiencing symptoms
You should self-isolate for 14 days and notify your line manager. Your Line Manager will contact HR Support Desk who will help to arrange a priority test for the household member(s) experiencing symptoms.
If all symptomatic members of your household test negative for Coronavirus - you can end isolation and resume work as normal.
If any member of your household tests positive for Coronavirus - you will be required to isolate for 14 days from their first day of symptoms.
NHS Test and Trace
NHS Test and Trace is designed to trace of the spread of the virus and isolate new infections. It will play a vital role in giving an early warning if the virus is increasing again, locally or nationally. The service helps trace close contacts of anyone who tests positive for coronavirus, and if necessary, notifies them that they must isolate at home to help stop the spread of the virus.
If you are identified to have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for coronavirus you will be alerted by the NHS Test and Trace service via text or email. You will be required to log on to the NHS Test and Trace website. If this isn’t possible, a trained call handler will contact you about what you need to do.
You will be advised to self-isolate for 14 days from the day that you were last in contact with the person that has tested positive for coronavirus. It’s vital that you do this even if you feel well. This is because if you have been infected, you could become infectious to others at any point (up to 14 days), sometimes without showing any symptoms. Members of your household will not be required to self-isolate, but they must take extra care to follow the guidance on social distancing and handwashing. No testing is required at this stage. If you have not developed symptoms within this 14 day period you may return to work.
Employees who are advised that they must self-isolate must inform their line manager immediately, who will then notify the HR Support Desk.
If during the 14 day isolation period you develop symptoms of coronavirus - you and others in your household should self-isolate immediately.
You should inform your line manager immediately of the onset of symptoms, who will notify the HR Support Desk. HR Support desk can help to arrange a priority test for any symptomatic person(s).
If you have been tested for coronavirus after being contacted by NHS Test and Trace and told to isolate for 14 days but have tested negative - you must continue to isolate for the full 14 days. This is because you may develop symptoms after you have been tested. However, members of your household can stop self-isolating if they do not have symptoms (but should take extra care to follow social distancing and handwashing guidance).
If you have been tested for coronavirus after being contacted by NHS Test and Trace and told to isolate for 14 days but have tested positive - you will need to isolate for 7 days from the day you first had symptoms (regardless of how long you have been self-isolating before you developed these symptoms.) This may mean you have to isolate for longer than 14 days. Members of your household must also self-isolate for 14 days from when you first developed symptoms.
Anyone who tests positive for coronavirus will be contacted within 24 hours of the test result, by the NHS Test and Trace service via text, an email alert or a call and will be asked to share information about their recent interactions. This could include household members, people with whom you have been in direct contact, or within 2 metres of for more than 15 minutes.
For more information please go to: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/testing-and-tracing/ or https://www.wolverhampton.gov.uk/coronavirus-advice-and-information/guidance-for-city-of-wolverhampton-employees-and-councillors
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Employee Risk Assessments for COVID-19
As you will be aware from previous communications, an employee risk assessment tool, specific to Covid-19, has been created by the Public Health team, based on the most recent scientific evidence.
Any employee who is working outside of their home on behalf of the Council, or who is shortly going to be doing this, must complete a Covid-19 risk assessment. For teams currently at work, this should be done by 8th July 2020. For teams which are due to be moving staff away from working at home, the employee risk assessments form part of the process for opening services. At present, guidance is still in place stating that employees whose role can be performed from home should continue to work from home.
The process to complete these may differ, depending on whether the employee has access to a wolverhampton.gov.uk email address or a personal email address. Please see the flowcharts below for a step by step process for each circumstance.
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