Advice for managers / recording on myPeople
Updated on 3 February 2022
- Read the coronavirus advice pages, and the links within them, to ensure you’re keeping up to date with the latest information.
- Read the managers’ guidance on the Orb, including advice about accurately recording absence reasons.
- Read the guidance on coronavirus-related absence and pay
- Look out for updates for managers, and keep your teams informed and up to date, regardless of whether they’re at work or at home.
- Ensure that your team’s contact details are up to date in myHR and keep your call trees up to date. This will help if we need to contact them in an emergency situation.
- Remind your team to follow the relevant prevention advice and safety procedures.
Self-isolation
Symptomatic colleagues
If a colleague has told you they're experiencing symptoms of coronavirus advise them not to attend work and to follow NHS Inform and Scottish Government advice about testing and self-isolation. They shouldn’t be allowed to return to work until they’ve followed the appropriate advice or have received a negative test, although they may be still able to work from home.
Close contacts
If a colleague is identified as a close contact and told to self-isolate by NHS Test and Protect they should self-isolate straight away follow NHS Inform advice on self-isolation and testing.
They may be able to end self-isolation early and return to work if they:
- are a fully vaccinated adult; this means they’ve received 2 doses from the NHS and have had their second dose more than 14 days ago;
- receive a negative PCR test result; and
- do not have, or develop, symptoms
There are other conditions that need to be met, and separate rules for Health and Social Care colleagues. For more detailed information on the conditions for ending self-isolation, read the if you’re a close contact – self-isolation page.
Regardless of their vaccination status, unless they work in Health and Social Care, colleagues cannot end self-isolation early under any circumstances if they share a household with someone who has tested positive for any variant of the virus.
There are other conditions that need to be met, and separate rules for Health and Social Care colleagues. For more detailed information on the conditions for ending self-isolation, read the 'if you’re a close contact – self-isolation' page.
For all colleagues, national guidance is that, even where self-isolation can be ended early, working from home should always be considered for the period of self-isolation first. However, many of our frontline roles are not suitable for homeworking so this will not always be possible.
If a colleague is a close contact, you need to discuss their specific circumstances and review relevant risk assessments before determining whether they may be able to end self-isolation early. You’re not required to record that conversation or the colleague’s vaccination status, but you must establish that they meet all the appropriate conditions and that it’s safe for them to return to work. There are self-isolation decision trees available to help you with that conversation.
Highest risk colleagues (previously shielding)
As we move beyond the Protection Levels system from 9 August, the Scottish Government has advised that those at ‘highest risk’ no longer need to shield and are able to attend work if they’re unable to work from home, providing it’s safe for them to do so.
If colleagues were previously shielding and are unable to work from home, you should already have had conversations with them to protect them in the workplace. We’ve developed guidance to help you prepare for those conversations. You should also revisit their occupational risk assessment before they return to the workplace and regularly thereafter.
If you’re in any doubt whether it’s safe for a colleague to be at work, it may be appropriate to seek Occupational Health advice. If, after considering a risk assessment and medical advice, it’s not safe for the colleague to return to work, the appropriate ‘High-Risk’ absence code should be used.
Remember to update their absence details on myPeople. No colleagues should be recorded under the previous shielding code, so make sure you read the guidance and update records as appropriate.
Pregnant colleagues
You should carry out new and expectant mothers risk assessment for all pregnant women as normal to ensure that any measures required to keep them safe at work are put in place.
Updated guidance from UK Gov/RCOG is that there should be a move away from self-isolation:
- for women in their third trimester (28 weeks+), or
- for women who have underlying health conditions that place them at high risk.
Please complete a pregnant worker's risk assessment to record and respond to identified workplace hazards. Unless otherwise advised by their clinician or GP, pregnant workers can continue to follow the same advice as the rest of the population.
Post-vaccine illness
Some people may experience side effects soon after receiving the vaccine. These are usually mild and are much less serious than developing coronavirus or complications associated with coronavirus. Any side effects usually go away within a few days.
If a colleague has told you they're unable to work due to post-vaccine illness, this should be recorded in myPeople under the ‘Covid vaccine reaction – unable to work from home’ absence code.
If they're concerned about their symptoms, or symptoms persist beyond a few days, you should advise them to call their GP or NHS24 on 111.
Coronavirus reasons in myPeople
With so many of our services experiencing disruption, it’s essential that you’re recording any Coronavirus-related absence correctly in myPeople.