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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what sanctions they will impose on businesses which insist that staff attend the workplace when they could work effectively from home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The current Covid restrictions guidance states that you can only leave home for work purposes where it is unreasonable to do your job from home. It is important that people stay at home wherever possible to minimise the risk of transmission and Government will continue to reinforce this message when engaging with businesses and representative organisations across a range of different sectors.

Under existing health and safety laws, employers have a duty to protect the health, safety and welfare of their employees and other people who might be affected by their business. Employers must do whatever is reasonably practicable to achieve this and this includes requiring and supporting those who can reasonably work from home to do so.

If employees are concerned that their employer is not taking all practical steps to support working from home, then they can report this to their local authority or the Health and Safety Executive who can take a range of actions.