Workers in the UK may refuse to go back to work, says unions, while employers may be fined if offices and workspaces are not safe upon return
Unions are saying that workers in the UK may refuse return to the office, while employers may be fined if offices and workspaces are not safe upon return, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has revealed proposals are being looked at to hit companies with sanctions if they fail to arrange acceptable workplaces.
Appearing on Sky News this morning, he said:
“There are discussions about those and there’s a draft set of proposals but I don’t want to prejudge those discussions that Alok Sharma is leading with the unions.”
“There’s already rules in place that we’ve brought in to deal with the crisis.”
“It’s about how we make sure that the rules that exist and the guidance that exists both work practically on the ground for employers and also keeps people safe.”
Hancock has also announced that talks are ongoing with firms and trade unions regarding what rules need to be in place to abide by “safe distancing” measures.
He added: “It’s critical that employers offer safe workplaces. We’ve been working with employers large and small and the trade unions in getting these details right.
“As and when more people get back to work, there’s guidelines and rules in place so workplaces can have safe distancing and social distancing in the workplace.”
Credit: ALAMY
The Health Secretary’s comments follow a series of unions bashed the non-binding guidelines allowing employers to decide when it’s safe.
This news follows the UK having the lowest daily death-rate since the end of March, with a total of 288 more deaths due to COVID-19 in the UK over 24 hours, which brings the total number of coronavirus-related deaths in the country to 28,734.
The TUC union, which represents around 5.5 million Brits, have warned that employees could refuse to go into work once lockdown restrictions are eased if companies were not forced to ensure that working environments are safe.
General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:
“Without a big shift from the government, when lockdown eases bad bosses will be able to expose their workers – and all of us – to infection without fear of consequences.”
“Any actions they fail to take will impact the rates of infection in the areas where they’re located. This is why ministers must require every employer with more than five employees to go further and publish their risk assessment and action plan on their own website and a government portal.”
The GMB union General Secretary John Phillips added: “The guidance has to be clear on how safe working practice is to be enforced, as it stands, there is nothing on PPE, nothing on enforcement to ensure workplaces are safe and nothing giving workers the assurances they need to get back to their jobs.
“In its current form, this guidance does not adequately protect workers from COVID-19 exposure and as a result many may refuse to work to avoid putting themselves and their families at risk.”
Also this morning, leader of the Labour party Sir Keir Starmer, said that we need to see a “national consensus” in regards to dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic after the nations makes that vital move to ease or lift lockdown measures.
Sir Keir has previously said that there needs to be a plan already prepared for how the UK will start to look at coming out of its nation-wide lockdown.
The newly-elected Labour leader is demanding a “national safety standard” to be put in place for businesses and schools, declaring that the plans revealed yesterday by the government were “pretty vague”.
