All over the world, people are adopting ‘social distancing’ as a preventative measure against the spread of coronavirus.

Social distancing has proven effective in a number of countries, where the virus spread rapidly before people started staying home, avoiding large gatherings and working remotely.

We’ve already covered how easy it is for a virus to spread in a workplace, so it makes sense that a lot of company’s in South Africa are opting for remote working following the president’s declaration that we’re in a “state of disaster”. 

Unfortunately, for a lot of people taking time off, or working away from the office isn’t that easy.

News24 reports,

In South Africa, the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) is in force. This Act focuses on fair labour practices.

Many employees appear to not know their rights and limitations pertaining to sick leave. The Act prescribes that it is a right due to employees for use only when they are ill.

If you’re an employer, you might be similarly unaware of how to proceed in the wake of a pandemic.

“As with any illness and the spread of such viruses, the employer should be aware and provide their staff with opportunities to prevent infection,” says Laura Potgieter, a recruitment and marketing specialist at HR Company Solutions.

If you have to be in the office, employers are required to make sure that staff have access to hand sanitisers, water and soap, their own pen and office equipment (so they don’t share pens and spread germs) and just generally implement and enforce their health and safety programmes.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the following strategy for preventing coronavirus in the office:

• Actively encourage sick employees to stay home.
• Emphasise staying home when sick, respiratory etiquette and hand hygiene by all employees.
• Perform routine environmental cleaning.
• Advise employees before travelling to take certain steps.
• Employees who are well but who have a sick family member at home with Covid-19 should notify their supervisors.
• If an employee is confirmed to have Covid-19, employers should inform fellow employees of their possible exposure to Covid-19 in the workplace but maintain confidentiality.

If you need some real-time advice, you can speak to labour law specialist, Ferdi Hartzenburg on TIMON.

TIMON is an app that gives you access to leading professionals in a number of fields.

Follow this link to find out more. 

[source:news24]