Mental health risk assessments will also become far more common as employers learn the lockdown lessons and seek to apply home working patterns on employees

Health and Safety

This issue will inevitably continue to be uppermost in the minds of employers concerned to ensure that no employee will accuse them of having needlessly exposed them to the possibility of catching Covid-19.

The questions to be asked will be:

Does the employee have to travel to work at all and face the dangers of infection on a tube, train or bus journey?

2. What safety measures are to be taken when employees are in the office? Can the 2 metre social distancing measures be implemented? If not what is going to be considered reasonable? Regular hand washing will clearly be required but what about the wearing of masks? The science and the government can’t agree on what is right so what is an employer to do?

3. What other working pattens might employees be asked to work? Perhaps rotating employees' presence in the place of work might be the answer or differing working hours?

4. If employees are to be asked to regularly work at home it is important that employers' liability insurers are made aware of this and employers need to remember to carry out specific home working risk assessments.

5. Mental health risk assessments will also become far more common as employers learn the lockdown lessons and seek to apply home working patterns on employees.

Furlough ends, re-structuring begins...

Businesses have already started adjusting to the new world. The travel and retail sectors (not those supplying food of course) have already had to face the realities that their businesses will not recover for many years to come. The two greatest costs to businesses are people and premises and both will be under careful scrutiny. Redundancy programmes have already started where more than 100 employees are to be made redundant since consultations need to start at least 45 days before the termination date. Redundancy programmes are already being planned and implemented in businesses who are only too acutely aware that post lockdown their business needs will be radically different.

For other businesses the process is more likely to be a gradual one as they adopt a wait and see attitude. All businesses will have accumulated considerable levels of debt and will have no choice but to cut jobs or look to re-structure via Company Voluntary Arrangements or as a very last resort go into liquidation.

Landlords will be faced with the acceleration of a move away from bricks and mortar retailing and the prospect of even more empty shops; difficult choices will have to be made between writing off rent and service charges to help tenants or seeing tenants cease trading leaving empty shops for years to come. Gradually the demand for office space will also reduce as employees are encouraged to work from home.

All the scenarios and variants of them will play out in the next months and years to come and advisors will have to strain

every sinew to help clients through difficult and challenging times. Inevitably there will be winners and losers. The winners will learn the lessons of lockdown and seek to enter into constructive dialogue with all stakeholders, show flexibility, courage, new thinking and lots of imagination. The losers will be those who seek to ignore the lessons of the lockdown and try to pretend it never happened.

We are well placed to assist all our clients to help them navigate this brave new world.

Employment Expertise

Employment law has an impact on businesses and individuals alike. It is complex and mistakes can be costly and time-consuming. Our Employment team combines legal expertise with commercial acumen to provide our clients with practical solutions, not just information.

We pride ourselves on the provision of timely and relevant advice; often our clients require that advice urgently. Our team of highly experienced and skilled employment lawyers offer a responsive, personable and practical approach based on a real understanding of our clients and their businesses and sectors.

We act for both employers and employees and provide a partner-led service that ensures clients receive the appropriate depth of expertise, whilst ensuring clarity of cost and excellent service levels. As a result, our advice is cost-effective, commercially driven and always aimed at meeting our clients’ objectives.

Rumana Bennett Solicitor rumana.bennett@laytons.com +44 (0)20 7842 8000

Martin Donoghue Consultant martin.donoghue@laytons.com +44 (0)20 7842 8000

Victoria Brockley Solicitor victoria.brockley@laytons.com +44 (0)20 7842 8000

Ryan D'Souza Solicitor-Advocate ryan.dsouza@laytons.com +44 (0)20 7842 8000

Dimitri Iesini Partner dimitri.iesini@laytons.com +44 (0)20 7842 8081

Dilini Loku Associate Partner dilini.loku@laytons.com +44 (0)20 7842 8000

David Buckle Partner david.buckle@laytons.com +44 (0)20 7842 8000

John Gavan Partner john.gavan@laytons.com +44 (0)20 7842 8000

Jennie Kreser Consultant jennie.kreser@laytons.com +44 (0)20 7842 8037

Nicholas Lakeland Partner nicholas.lakeland@laytons.com +44 (0)20 7842 8000

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