The Minister of Employment and Labour has published a new ‘Consolidated Direction’ (Government Gazette no. 43751 dated 1 October 2020) to prevent and combat the spread of Covid-19 in the workplace. It replaces the Consolidated Direction published on 4 June 2020.

While one might have expected the measures to be less strict than before, the opposite is true. The measures include a number of new requirements including –

• An employer who employs more than 50 employees must submit a record of its risk assessment, as well as a Covid-19 health and safety policy, to the Department of Employment and Labour within 21 days from the commencement of the new Direction (Previously this only applied to employers with more than 500 employees).

• An employer who employs more than 50 employees must submit a weekly report on a number of issues (e.g. vulnerability status, screening details, testing results, high risk contacts, post infection outcomes) to the National Institute for Occupational Health.

• New periods of monitoring and quarantine for different levels of risk.

• New requirements surrounding the return to work of an employee who has tested positive for Covid-19.

• Dispute resolution process for employees who refuse to work.

To see the Consolidated Health and Safety Directive (highlighted in red) CLICK HERE.

Submitted by Labourwise