Scotland paving way with guidance for safe return to work when Covid-19 lockdown is eased
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon used the daily Covid-19 briefing to reinforce the Scottish Government’s message that people should not yet return to work.
Ms Sturgeon emphasised that lockdown restrictions still apply to staff and that the developments south of the border do not impact Scotland’s workplace practices under protective coronavirus measures.
However, she also revealed that there were 14 working groups that comprise businesses, unions and government officials working towards guidance to allow safe conditions for when people do resume work.
The priority sectors are retail, manufacturing and construction sectors but other working groups also are looking at measures for tourism, energy, finance and food and drink.
Ms Sturgeon said: “As I have emphasised over the past couple of days, the lockdown restrictions remain in place for Scotland and so it may be worth stressing what this currently means in relation to employers and employees.
“I know that the UK government published guidance for businesses yesterday. I want to stress that guidance is not yet operational in Scotland since at this stage we are not currently encouraging more people to go back to work.
“I would ask instead that all employers follow Scottish government guidance. I am very grateful for the fact that the vast majority of employers have been very responsible through this crisis and so I'm sure that most will do this and will not urge workers to come back to work prematurely.
“And for employees, I would remind you that if you think your working conditions are unsafe then you have rights under employment legislation. If you have a trade union in your workplace and you have concerns about your working conditions then you should also be able to talk to them.
“The Scottish Government is working with employers and trade unions to develop guidance on safe workplaces, which has the confidence of businesses and workers. We therefore established working groups across 14 sectors to consider how quickly and in what manner you can start to return to work.
“Early priorities are the retail, manufacturing and construction sectors, however, the working groups also cover sectors such as tourism, energy, finance and food and drink.
“We believe that this partnership approach is the right and responsible way to proceed. It will allow businesses to reopen when they can safely do so and we all want that to be as soon as possible and it will hopefully provide employers, workers and the wider public with the vital reassure that reopening would not be putting your health at unnecessary risk.”
