I return to work today after a couple of valuable days of introspection and strategic contemplation in glorious Yorkshire countryside. I find the business has survived without me but the world of Covid has taken a turn towards the bizarre logic of Catch 22.
While our Prime Minister has gleefully announced that he is self-isolating at home and a little bit at No.10, I would ask him how he will determine that he is fit to return to normal work? How will he assure people around him that he is not an asymptomatic carrier and a danger to them?
In my business, which has declared itself Covid-secure and been inspected as such by HSE, we have an employee who has contracted COVID-19 and has consequently infected his household. There were no close contacts with his colleagues at work and “Test and Trace” have found no reason to ask any of us to self-isolate. He, though, needed to self-isolate in addition to his period of incapacitation as a result of his family members contracting the disease. The official period of self-isolation has now expired and he is asking about a return to work.
Our HR advisors have referred us to the HSE requirement for a return to work questionnaire and the need for a doctor to declare him fit for work. So far so simple!
I had originally told him that his return would be dependant on the submission of a negative test result. The HR advice was amalgamated with this requirement and I thought that we had a logical process based on scientific evidence and qualified medical opinion. After all, I need to be able to reassure all my staff that I am protecting them from COVID-19 to the best of my ability.
Imagine my consternation, on my return, to be told that it is not possible to be tested for COVID-19 if you are no longer symptomatic, and unwilling to lie about it, and no doctor , NHS or private, will provide a note of “fitness to work” if the reason for absence is COVID-19. So, if you are absent from work for the reason that you are suffering from COVID-19 there is no route whereby you can safely return to work. It is patently the case that individuals or Prime Ministers are affected by COVID-19 differently according to their individual circumstances and clearly this means that an appropriate medical opinion is required to determine when the patient is fit and safe to work. Why is it impossible to access such an opinion or even a test result to counter the one that declared the patient unfit in the first place?
What will Boris say when he wants to return to normal work? “Hi, I’ve followed Government advice, I’m safe to work with: honest!”
Martin Usher, Managing Director, 16/11/2020
