Employer restrictions on out of work activities?
Discussion
Can anyone help with this please, and tell me if it is enforceable?
My employer has a policy of requiring all staff to isolate for 14 days if they have been abroad. Large numbers of staff however are exempt under the UK government rules due to the work we do, and this has been confirmed by the Border Agency. We also work shifts and so get week's off at a time, which are often used to travel or go on holiday.
My opinion is that the 14 day isolation period is a unfair restriction on our time out of work, and should not be enforceable as we are exempt according to the UK government rules. Is this assertion correct, or are employers entitled to put restrictions on your free time out of work?
My employer has a policy of requiring all staff to isolate for 14 days if they have been abroad. Large numbers of staff however are exempt under the UK government rules due to the work we do, and this has been confirmed by the Border Agency. We also work shifts and so get week's off at a time, which are often used to travel or go on holiday.
My opinion is that the 14 day isolation period is a unfair restriction on our time out of work, and should not be enforceable as we are exempt according to the UK government rules. Is this assertion correct, or are employers entitled to put restrictions on your free time out of work?
Drumroll said:
Not sure they are putting restrictions on your free time. They have laid down a policy stating if you go abroad you will have to isolate for 14 days. They are not stopping you going abroad.
True, but as some of us have to work on site, it means if we do go abroad we cannot work for 2 weeks afterwards, and so it does restrict what we are able to do with our week's off? Condi said:
Drumroll said:
Not sure they are putting restrictions on your free time. They have laid down a policy stating if you go abroad you will have to isolate for 14 days. They are not stopping you going abroad.
True, but as some of us have to work on site, it means if we do go abroad we cannot work for 2 weeks afterwards, and so it does restrict what we are able to do with our week's off? GT03ROB said:
They are not restricting what you can do though in your off time as previous poster said. They are restricting what you can do from a work perspective.
Ok, but by preventing us from working for 2 weeks, following a trip abroad, they are effectively preventing us going abroad, no? Condi said:
Ok, but by preventing us from working for 2 weeks, following a trip abroad, they are effectively preventing us going abroad, no?
Think about it like this; The government has declared that after visiting 'red light' countries, upon return you must self quarantine for 14 days.Therefore, if you go on holiday to one of the 'red light' countries, that means you cannot return to work for 14 days after returning from your holiday.
So in effect, this is what your company is telling you, not so?
I would venture that it's also not unreasonable of your company to expect you to self quarantine even if you visited a 'green or amber light' country.
Ultimately, they are leaving it up to you to decide whether it's worth going abroad or not.
If I’ve read this right you’re basically saying the company wants you to isolate for 14 days regardless of destination (pretty stupid) and you’re asking whether they can force you to do that? Are you also asking if their demand for you to isolate after any officially unrestricted foreign travel is reasonable and whether they should be allowing you/paying you for those additional 14 days off?
It does seem if I’ve read this correctly that they would in effect be preventing you from going abroad for any days off or leave you have by imposing a condition on your return that’s not in line with government guidance.
It does seem if I’ve read this correctly that they would in effect be preventing you from going abroad for any days off or leave you have by imposing a condition on your return that’s not in line with government guidance.
djc206 said:
If I’ve read this right you’re basically saying the company wants you to isolate for 14 days regardless of destination (pretty stupid) and you’re asking whether they can force you to do that? Are you also asking if their demand for you to isolate after any officially unrestricted foreign travel is reasonable and whether they should be allowing you/paying you for those additional 14 days off?
It does seem if I’ve read this correctly that they would in effect be preventing you from going abroad for any days off or leave you have by imposing a condition on your return that’s not in line with government guidance.
This is correct. It does seem if I’ve read this correctly that they would in effect be preventing you from going abroad for any days off or leave you have by imposing a condition on your return that’s not in line with government guidance.
Although irrespective of any green/amber/red countries, we were already officially exempt from the 14 day government isolation policy due to the nature of our work. Many of us cannot work from home either, so if we do want to go abroad we cannot work until 14 days after our return, which I see as a restriction on use of our free time.
TonyRPH said:
Think about it like this; The government has declared that after visiting 'red light' countries, upon return you must self quarantine for 14 days.
Therefore, if you go on holiday to one of the 'red light' countries, that means you cannot return to work for 14 days after returning from your holiday.
So in effect, this is what your company is telling you, not so?
I would venture that it's also not unreasonable of your company to expect you to self quarantine even if you visited a 'green or amber light' country.
Ultimately, they are leaving it up to you to decide whether it's worth going abroad or not.
I would venture is is entirely unreasonable for the company to expect us to self quarantine from a green or amber country if the government has decided we do not need to. Therefore, if you go on holiday to one of the 'red light' countries, that means you cannot return to work for 14 days after returning from your holiday.
So in effect, this is what your company is telling you, not so?
I would venture that it's also not unreasonable of your company to expect you to self quarantine even if you visited a 'green or amber light' country.
Ultimately, they are leaving it up to you to decide whether it's worth going abroad or not.
I can understand them not wanting to use the exemption but now that there is a clear system of grading in place it would be pretty hard to argue that you should isolate when returning from say NZ where there is no Covid but you could spend your days off in the pub in the UK and that’s fine. It appears fairly unreasonable and quite daft to me. Maybe they’re going to play catch up with the governments new policy?
Condi said:
Ok, but by preventing us from working for 2 weeks, following a trip abroad, they are effectively preventing us going abroad, no?
No, where have they said you can't go abroad? All they are saying in doing so you will need to take 14 days off. Not the same thing.Sorry if you are not getting the answer you want.
Drumroll said:
Condi said:
Ok, but by preventing us from working for 2 weeks, following a trip abroad, they are effectively preventing us going abroad, no?
No, where have they said you can't go abroad? All they are saying in doing so you will need to take 14 days off. Not the same thing.Sorry if you are not getting the answer you want.
Condi said:
I appreciate that, its got nothing to do with the answer I want - but are they allowed to say that we need to take 14 days off following a trip out the country?
They can easily say that if they want too. Ultimately the only way that could be tested is in a court of law. Lets turn it round another way would you really kick up a stink over this in the current climate?
Condi said:
I would venture is is entirely unreasonable for the company to expect us to self quarantine from a green or amber country if the government has decided we do not need to.
Yeah I understand your view, but it sounds as though your employer is trying to protect their interests and those of their employees, which can only be a good thing surely?How would you feel if one of your colleagues took a holiday in a green light country, returned with Covid-19 (not impossible) and then passed it on to you?
TonyRPH said:
Yeah I understand your view, but it sounds as though your employer is trying to protect their interests and those of their employees, which can only be a good thing surely?
How would you feel if one of your colleagues took a holiday in a green light country, returned with Covid-19 (not impossible) and then passed it on to you?
I would contend that there is far far more chance of picking Covid-19 up in the UK than in many European countries, even more so now we can go back to the pub. They are obviously trying to protect employees, but in a way which isn't proportional to the risk. How would you feel if one of your colleagues took a holiday in a green light country, returned with Covid-19 (not impossible) and then passed it on to you?
Condi said:
I would contend that there is far far more chance of picking Covid-19 up in the UK than in many European countries, even more so now we can go back to the pub. They are obviously trying to protect employees, but in a way which isn't proportional to the risk.
You make a good point.I guess it's all about managing risk... Not an envious task.
The company, presumably, has no way of knowing where it’s employees have travelled to / from, and doesn’t want to put processes in place to check. As essential workers, they also presumably want a healthy work force. I guess that’s the motivation.
They’re not stopping you from going abroad. They are telling you that if you can’t afford to take 14 days off when you return from your holiday, you should perhaps rethink going abroad, because they don’t want you back at work...
They’re not stopping you from going abroad. They are telling you that if you can’t afford to take 14 days off when you return from your holiday, you should perhaps rethink going abroad, because they don’t want you back at work...
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