Work Safely Protocol

With the recent decline in COVID-19 cases and the removal of restrictions across the country, many employers will be looking at returning to the workplace. In light of this, the Work Safely Protocol was updated last week:

From: Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment

From January 2022, further revisions of the Work Safely Protocol have been undertaken to reflect new public health advice and how this will affect workplaces. The Work Safely Protocol continues to apply in full, setting out the minimum Public Health infection prevention and control measures required to be taken by employers and workers, in every place of work, to prevent and reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Use of Covid-19 Recovery Certificate

We have now received confirmation that the official Covid-19 Recovery Certificate serves the same purpose as a fitness to work note by indicating that the employee has recovered from the illness and is fit to work, and can be used with conditions.

The current HSA guidance states that “the employer may ask the employee to confirm the details of their self-declaration, by obtaining a fitness for work note from their general practitioner or the occupational health practitioner, where available. Requesting a fitness for work note is at the discretion of the employer”.

Data Protection Advisory

The Data Protection Commission has advised of the following:

  • The recovery certificate must be obtained by an individual of their own volition and an employer should not seek to compel an employee to obtain or provide a recovery certificate.

  • If made available by the employee, the recovery certificate can be processed in a limited capacity by the employer for the purpose of confirming the self-declaration of recovery from illness, obviating the need to obtain a medical fitness for work note.

  • The processing of such documentation should form part of the employer’s general COVID-19 health and safety planning and policies, which should be kept up to date with the guidance and advice of the public health authorities.

This now gives employers the option of requesting employees to complete the form to authorise their return to work following Covid-19 related absence. You may wish to add this to your Return-to-Work checklist as an option for the employee to complete. You should also note that there may be a time delay of c.12 hours before receiving the form.