Clinically Extremely Vulnerable – Living in Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland or England
Clinically Extremely Vulnerable – Living in Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland or England
Clinically Extremely Vulnerable (“CEV”) individuals have been advised by the UK Government or devolved nations to shield again across many areas of the UK when they are unable to work from home. People who are defined as clinically extremely vulnerable are at very high risk of severe illness from COVID-19, so if you have been advised to shield you should do so again.
This advice is in place in
Wales from 22 December,
Northern Ireland from 26 December,
Scotland from 05 January and
England from 06 January.
If you are unable to work from home, you should not come to work.
Clinically extremely vulnerable to coronavirus
People, who are clinically extremely vulnerable, who live in Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland or England have been advised not to go to work if they cannot work from home. Employees in this group will be receiving a letter from the relevant Government/NHS.
We have decided to extend Royal Mail sick pay to colleagues with CEV status who live in Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland or England who are required to shield as we did during the last lockdown.
Exceptionally, we will offer full sick pay to support CEV colleagues who are due to move to half pay / nil pay or Statutory Sick Pay (SSP). This means CEV colleagues who live in Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland or England with less than a year’s service are also covered.
This will apply where employees cannot work from home. Employees who are on half / nil / SSP and in this category will receive a letter confirming this arrangement.
The extension of our policy approach is at our discretion. We keep our policy approach under constant review, the next review is planned for the end of January 2021.
As a condition of extending sick pay colleagues must:
· Live in Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland or England
· Provide their manager with the letter they received from the Government/NHS advising them to shield and not come to work, if they cannot work from home
· Agree to book and take all their full annual leave entitlement this holiday year (ending 31 March 2021) even if it overlaps with shielding
· Agree to take any pre-booked annual leave, even if that overlaps with shielding
Employees will receive their usual pay when taking holiday.
Managers should record any shielding self absence on PSP using, ‘Sick Coronavirus’ from the absence type drop-down box then ‘SDU070 – Shielding Self’.
This absence code should only be used for CEV “shielding-self” employees.