The legal team at Law-Call, a 24-hour helpline available to members, has shared legal advice for early years settings as England lifts many of its Covid-19 restrictions. If you have legal questions about the latest guidance, you can find contact details for Law-Call in the of our website.
The relaxation of restrictions on the 19 of August is not clear cut, and there appear to be many mixed messages, with businesses asked to take a responsible approach. So, what does this mean for your early years setting?
As a setting you owe an obligation to your staff under the Health and Safety Act to ensure a safe system of work.
The key steps the government says providers should take to reduce the risk of transmitting an infection are:
1. Carry out a risk assessment, to assess what measures you may wish to adopt or retain, such as staggered start times, or mask for parents.
2. Ensure good hygiene for everyone including regular hand washing and sanitisation of hands.
3. Maintain appropriate cleaning regimes, using standard products such as detergents.
4. Keep occupied spaces well ventilated.
As this is quite a complex area, we have answered some of your most commonly asked questions:
Can we continue with the bubbles?
Whilst children do not have to kept in bubbles, it may be reasonable to continue with this practice if you feel that this would minimise the spread of infection and cause less disruption in the event of an outbreak. Also, the rules on children attending more than one setting has been relaxed and the number of settings a child attend does not need to be minimised.
Can we require staff and parents to continue to wear face coverings?
Although face coverings are no longer recommended for staff and visitors, should a setting wish to continue to require staff and parents to wear a face covering then this would be considered reasonable – unless any staff, parents or other visitors have an exemption.
If an exemption applies, then you should be considerate of individuals’ circumstances as they would likely to have a protected characteristic and therefore by protected from discrimination under the Equality Act. This should not be an issue for existing staff and parents as you would hopefully be aware of those who are exempt.
If you have parents who previously wore masks and are now refusing or querying this, you can explain that as a setting you are entitled to adopt any health and safety measures which you feel are appropriate to protect your staff. It would be good practice to remind those who attend the premises which measures you will continue to require them to follow, and you could deny a parent access to the building if they were not complying with these rules.
Should you wish to continue to meet the children at the door rather than allowing admittance to parents this would also be acceptable.
Most staff in settings will not require PPE beyond what they would normally need for their work, however should you wish to continue to provide enhanced PPE then this would be acceptable.
Can we continue to stagger start times for the children?
Nurseries may still need to stagger or adjust start and finish times. This helps keep groups apart as they arrive and leave the premises. You will continue to have your own health and safety risk assessments and keep them under review. You will need to continue to carefully implement these measures and inform parents about them.
Can we continue to apply rules in regard to social distancing?
Social distancing measures have now ended in the workplace and it is no longer necessary to apply the "one-metre plus" rule however this would be considered to be reasonable to continue to apply these rules to protect your staff.
Are staff able to work two jobs?
Current DfE guidance contains no restrictions on the number of settings early years staff are able to work in therefore it would not be advisable to continue to restrict this.
Can we require staff to undertake testing?
Some employers may request employees to undertake regular testing for Covid-19 to identify people who are asymptomatic. This should be contained within your policies and procedures and should this be part of the current regime then this could continue to apply.
Are staff with medical conditions still able to work?
The rules on working have not changed with the latest relaxation as where they have been unable to work from home they should be attending work. Clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV) people are advised, as a minimum, to follow the same guidance as everyone else. It is important that everyone adheres to this guidance, but CEV people may wish to think particularly carefully about the additional precautions they can continue to take.
It is important to respect and be considerate of those who may wish to take a more cautious approach as restrictions are lifted. Employers should be able to explain the measures they have in place to keep CEV staff safe at work.
Can pregnant staff still work?
Yes, pregnant staff are classed as clinically vulnerable and can continue to attend early years settings, though while in settings they should follow the sector-specific measures in the Actions for Early Years guidance to minimise the risks of transmission.
There is a long-standing requirement for employers to put in place measures to ensure workplace safety where a significant health and safety risk is identified for a new or expectant mother. Employers will need to take this into account in their risk assessment.