The Government has now published the list of essential workers who are permitted to travel for work purposes for the period of restricted movement until 12th April 2020.
Firstly, all employees should work remotely from home if at all possible. The guidance published on 28th March is to provide guidance to employers and employees as to what constitutes an essential service where workers cannot work from home and have no option but to travel to work. There will be a grace period until 6pm on Monday 30th March for people who need to make necessary arrangements to wind down their activities in an orderly way. Please find attached a template letter which you can adapt for any employees that you deem essential workers and must travel to attend work.
How are AHB Activities Affected:
The guidelines specifically refer to and include:
- providing essential accommodation (including homeless, direct provision and related services)
- emergency repairs: delivery of emergency services to homes on an emergency call-out basis in areas such as electrical, plumbing, glazing and roofing
- community and voluntary workers, working in a publicly commissioned service, not otherwise included on the list, deployed to assist in the delivery of essential services
- residential care activities (including nursing care, mental health and substance abuse, elderly and persons with disabilities, children’s residential services)
- homecare home help and other community services
- social work and social care activities (including disability services, mental health, child protection and welfare, domestic, sexual and gender based violence, homeless services including outreach)
Other AHB Activities
- Allocations: If you are allocating properties which are priority allocations to homeless households who require safe accommodation under Covid19 that activity is included above.
- For general needs allocations then you should consult with the relevant local authority in that regard who can advise as to the urgency of the allocations.
- If you have been requested by the local authority to provide isolation units for the purposes of COVID-19 then that is also covered.
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For other allocations, about which you are unsure whether to continue, you can check with the relevant local authority if they are considered to be priority allocations that should proceed.
What the Guidance States
Employers
- In the guidance it states employers should refer to the guidance to decide whether your organisation is providing an essential service; it is not necessary to seek official authorisation
- if you are providing an essential service, you should identify those employees (including sub-contractors and so on) who are essential to the provision of that service and notify them. This can be done by category of employee or by individual; it could include all employees of the organisation
- You should provide your employees who you have identified must travel for work with an authorisation letter
- If you are providing an essential service, latest public health guidance should be followed at all times
Employees
- If your employer notifies you that you are an essential employee, or that you belong to a category of essential employees, you are permitted to travel to and from work
- When travelling to and from work, you should at all times bring with you either a work identification or a letter from your employer indicating that you are an essential employee, as well as one other form of identification
Volunteers
- If you are a volunteer who is working as part of the national community response, you are permitted to travel for that purpose, for example, if you are delivering food, supplies or medicine to a person who is cocooned or vulnerable. The Local Government emergency response teams will co-ordinate that response at local level.
See the full guidance here:
https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/dfeb8f-list-of-essential-service-providers-under-new-public-health-guidelin/
Any queries please contact the ICSH. Stay safe everyone,
