Forbidding infected clockings

All UK employees should be following a policy of self-isolation if they have a fever and/or a new dry cough.

However, this is a self-certified process, and many employers might be anxious that their employees are not following the full 7-day isolation period – and this period can be greatly expanded if the virus spreads through a multi-person household.

This employee behaviour can be caused by many factors of their employment, such as a lack of contractual sick pay or an overloaded task list due to decreased workforce.

It is vital for employers in these troubled times to identify whether their workplace culture encourages presenteeism, which is now a direct and serious health risk to the wider population.

However, if you do feel the need to enforce distancing from the workplace, Time and Attendance Scotland has devised a new feature to assist you.

NEW CLOCKING RESTRICTION FEATURE

The new feature is available on the absence code screen for “Lock Employee on Use”. If this is ticked and a sickness absence is booked for the current day, either via the absence planner or the Self-Service Module (SSM), then the ’employee locked’ flag will be set on the employee record.

As a result, your clocking terminals will be updated to forbid that employee from clocking in.

However, employees who work remotely while self-isolating, which is entirely safe, will still be able to clock-in using the Self-Service Module.

The employee will only be allowed to clock again using your on-site terminals once the locked flag has been manually cleared on their employee record.

NEW COVID-19 SOFTWARE RECORDS FOR EMPLOYEES

Several countries have already begun to mark in some way which people have recovered from or tested negative for COVID-19, in order to permit relaxation of lockdown procedures now or in the future. The most thorough labeling is surely South Korea, but Germany is also considering issuing ‘immunity certificates‘ to its population.

We have developed new software records for employees marking their COVID-19 status in this future environment:

• Not tested,
• Tested negative,
• Tested positive and recovered,
• Vaccinated

This will help employers better manage their workforce and plan ahead for shifts, rotas, access patterns, and so on as this outbreak continues.

Please get in touch for more information!