Dear All UK Staff,
Working From Home
Our intention was to introduce a rotational working from home arrangement with effect from Monday 23 March with trials to be conducted this week. Events however have moved at pace with the UK Government advising yesterday that we are moving out of the contain phase and into delay.
The advice now is that those people that are able to or are especially vulnerable should work from home.
Attached is a procedure and checklist to guide you and your line manager on how to effectively manage working from home. You should complete this as soon as possible to address any potential challenges you may face and in conjunction with your line manager if you agree that home working is possible. We would encourage you to do this as soon as practicable.
General advice from the UK Government
For those members of staff who are unable to work from home, the Government has also updated its guidance with regard to self-isolation and social distancing.
General advice for everyone in the UK is as follows - link:
- Work from home where possible
- Avoid non-essential travel
- Avoid pubs, clubs and theatres and similar venues where possible
- Symptoms of coronavirus are -
- A high temperature - you feel hot to touch on your chest or back
- A new, continuous cough - this means you've started coughing repeatedly
- If you live alone and have symptoms of coronavirus illness, however mild, stay at home for 7 days from when your symptoms started.
- If you live with others and you or one of them have symptoms of coronavirus, then all household members must stay at home and not the leave the house for 14 days. The 14-day period starts from the day when the first person became ill.
- For anyone in the household who starts displaying symptoms, they need to stay at home for 7 days from when the symptoms appeared, regardless of what day they are on in the original 14-day isolation period.
- If you can, move any vulnerable individuals (such as the elderly or those with underlying health conditions) out of your home, to stay with friends or family for the duration of the home isolation period. If you cannot do this, stay away from them as much as possible.
- If you have coronavirus symptoms:
- do not go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital
- you do not need to contact 111 to tell them you’re staying at home (you should however inform your line manager)
- testing for coronavirus is not needed if you’re staying at home
Employee Support
We are conscious that this is a very concerning time for you and your families. Please do remember that ASCO provides a 24/7 completely confidential counselling service should you be in need of support at this time. Please contact HR to retrieve these contact details.
Please keep connected to your line manager and to the latest coronavirus advice and updates. A SharePoint page has been set up which can be accessed through the ASCO intranet.
There is also a dedicated email address for any queries - zzRM-COVID-19@ascoworld.com.
We are very conscious that this this is a constantly changing situation and we are working hard to make sure that we keep you informed.
Best regards,
Peter France, Group CEO