Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what guidance the Government has provided on what employees should do if their employer is asking them to continue going to work and (a) their job role could be completed at home or (b) social distancing is not adhered to.

The Government has been clear that employers should carefully consider Public Health England’s social distancing guidance. The guidance sets out that employers should help their staff to find alternative arrangements to support them to work from home, , including providing suitable IT and equipment to enable remote working.

Where people cannot work from home, they can continue going into their place of work as long as Public Health England’s guidance is closely followed. This is consistent with the Chief Medical Officer’s advice.

Where a worker has a concern about health and safety which cannot be resolved through speaking with their employer or trade union, they can contact the relevant enforcement agency – either their local authority or the Health and Safety Executive. Where the Health and Safety Executive are made aware of an employer not complying with the relevant Public Health England guidance (including enabling social distancing where it is practical to do so), the Health and Safety Executive will consider a range of actions, from providing specific advice to employers through to issuing enforcement notices.