NHS Test and Trace in the workplace

Contents

1. NHS Test and Trace
2. Guidance for employers
3. Critical services
4. Guidance for workers
5. Support for people self-isolating

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While cases are high and rising, everybody needs to continue to act carefully and remain cautious. This is why we are keeping in place key protections:

• testing when you have symptoms and targeted asymptomatic testing in education, high-risk workplaces and to help people manage their personal risk
• self-isolating when positive or when contacted by NHS Test and Trace
• border quarantine: for all arriving from red list countries and for those people not fully vaccinated arriving from amber list countries
• cautious guidance for individuals, businesses and the vulnerable while prevalence is high, including:
  • encouraging people to continue to use the NHS COVID-19 app
  • while the government is no longer instructing people to work from home if they can, the government would expect and recommend a gradual return over the summer
  • the government expects and recommends that people wear face coverings in crowded areas such as public transport
  • being outside or letting fresh air in
  • minimising the number, proximity and duration of social contacts

This guidance explains how employers and businesses can maintain business continuity, help to slow the spread of the virus, and save lives.

NHS Test and Trace

NHS Test and Trace:

• provides free testing for anyone who has symptoms of COVID-19 to find out if they have the virus

• gets in touch with anyone who has had a positive test result to help them share information about any close contacts they have had

• alerts those contacts, where necessary, and instructs them to self-isolate

You should self-isolate immediately if you show symptoms of COVID-19 and book a test as soon as possible. If you are notified by NHS Test and Trace of a positive COVID-19 test result, you must complete your full self-isolation period, unless you are participating in an approved daily contact testing scheme.

Your self-isolation period starts immediately from when your symptoms started, or, if you do not have any symptoms, from when your test was taken. Your self-isolation period includes the day your symptoms started (or the day your test was taken if you do not have symptoms), and the next 10 full days.

You must also self-isolate if you have been informed by NHS Test and Trace that you are a contact of a person who has had a positive test result for COVID-19. By self-isolating, you are protecting your family, friends and local community, and helping to stop the spread of the virus

See further information on how NHS Test and Trace works.

NHS COVID-19 app

The NHS COVID-19 app is an important part of NHS Test and Trace. App users can check symptoms, order a test, receive results and advice, and check in to venues. The app sends anonymous alerts if the user has been in close contact with another app user who has tested positive for COVID-19.

If you receive a contact tracing alert via the app you should self-isolate and get a test. This is crucial to help break chains of transmission and keep people safe.

• How businesses should use the app and NHS QR code poster

• How workers should use the app

• Download the app

Guidance for employers

It's critical that employers take steps to keep workers and visitors safe. By following the working safely guidance and keeping your workplace clean, employers can reduce the risk of co-workers having to self-isolate if a member of staff tests positive for COVID-19, or is identified as having had close contact with someone who has tested positive.

Employers can now plan a return to workplaces, which should entail a health and safety risk assessment that includes the risk from COVID-19.

Ensuring your workers self-isolate where necessary

It is an offence for you (as an employer) to allow a worker to attend the workplace if you are aware that the worker has either:

• tested positive for COVID-19

• been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 and received a notification to self-isolate from NHS Test and Trace

This NHS guidance explains how long an individual must self-isolate for.

If you know that a worker has been told to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace, you must not allow them to come into work or work anywhere other than where they are self-isolating (usually, their home) for their full self-isolation period. Failure to do so could result in your firm facing a fine, starting from £1,000.

If a worker has received a notification to self-isolate via the NHS COVID-19 app, they should not attend the workplace as the individual may be infectious and could spread the virus.

In certain limited circumstances fully vaccinated employees identified as contacts may be able to leave self-isolation to undertake critical work. Further detail is set out below.

Close contacts

A close contact is a person who has been close to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. You can be a contact anytime from 2 days before the person who tested positive developed their symptoms, and up to 10 days after. This is when the virus can be passed to others.

A risk assessment may be undertaken to determine this, but a contact can be:

• anyone who lives in the same household as another person who has COVID-19 symptoms or has tested positive for COVID-19
• anyone who has had any of the following types of contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19:
  • face-to-face contact including being coughed on or having a face-to-face conversation within one metre
  • been within one metre for one minute or longer without face-to-face contact
  • been within 2 metres of someone for more than 15 minutes (either as a one-off contact, or added up together over one day)

A person may also be a close contact if they have travelled in the same vehicle or plane as a case.

See guidance for non-household contacts.

NHS Test and Trace will not usually consider someone to be a contact if their interaction with a positive case took place through a Perspex (or equivalent) screen as long as there has been no other contact such as those in the list above.

The wearing of personal protective equipment (PPE) will not be considered as a mitigation when assessing whether a recent contact is likely to have transmitted the virus. Only full medical-grade PPE worn in health and care settings will be considered.

Critical services

Self-isolation remains an essential tool in our national efforts to reduce the spread of coronavirus. In the small number of situations where the self-isolation of close contacts would result in serious disruption to critical services, a limited number of named workers may be able to leave self-isolation under specific controls for the purpose of undertaking critical work only.

This process is only intended to run until 16 August 2021, when fully vaccinated close contacts will be exempt from self-isolation. The government will continue to engage closely on this with employers over the summer

Who this applies to

This policy only applies to you if your employer has received a letter from a government department on which your name is listed. In this event you will be able to leave self-isolation to undertake critical work. In all other cases, you should continue to self-isolate as now.

This policy applies to named workers in specifically approved workplaces who are fully vaccinated (defined as someone who is 14 days post-final dose) and who have been identified as close contacts. Permission to attend work is contingent on following certain controls, agreed by the Department of Health and Social Care, to mitigate the risk of increased infection. This is not a blanket exemption for all workers in a sector.

The test that is applied when identifying if an individual could attend work is whether they work in critical elements of national infrastructure and whether their absence would be likely to lead to the loss or compromise of this infrastructure resulting in one or both of the following:

• major detrimental impact on the availability, integrity or delivery of essential services - including those services whose integrity, if compromised, could result in significant loss of life or casualties
• significant impact on national security, national defence, or the functioning of the state

The process is exceptional for these specific circumstances. It is not intended to avoid all disruption to services that will result from the need for people to self-isolate.

The process will not cover all or in most cases even the majority of workers in critical sectors. For example, an exception may be suitable in the case of absences in critical railway signalling roles essential for the functioning of parts of the network but is less likely to be suitable for individual train drivers. Similarly, it would be likely to apply to control room staff in power stations who are required to be physically located in the power station control rooms on site but would not apply to power station administration staff that are likely to be able to work from home. Likewise, it would be likely to apply to public servants in the control rooms of critical flood defence infrastructure but not to ministers or public servants shaping long-term flood control policy.

This process does not apply to any workers who have tested positive to coronavirus and should also not be used for contacts who develop symptoms regardless of their role or vaccination status. In these circumstances you should continue to self-isolate as now.

What to do if this applies to your business

Where employers believe the self-isolation of certain key employees as contacts would result in serious disruption to critical services, they should contact the relevant government department (see table below) . They should provide information on:

• the number of people who it is proposed would leave self-isolation
• the roles those individuals need to perform
• the impact failure to do this would have and when this impact is likely to materialise (for example, is it already an issue or likely to materialise in the coming days)

The relevant department will work with the Cabinet Office and the Department of Health and Social Care to agree the roles and workplaces that are likely to meet the criteria set out above on a daily basis. The relevant department will then determine whether individual cases meet the criteria set out above. Decisions will be made rapidly on a case-by-case basis and kept under review.

Where a specific case meets the criteria, the employer will receive a letter from the relevant department setting out the named critical workers designated and telling them what measures they and those workers need to follow.

Unless employers have a letter from a government department on which the workers are specifically named, this policy does not apply and employees should self-isolate as directed.

Separate arrangements are in place for frontline health and care staff.

Who to contact

Department	Main sectors covered	Contact details
BEIS	Energy Civil nuclear	[email protected]
DCMS	Digital infrastructure	[email protected]
Defra	Food production and supply Waste Water Veterinary medicines Essential chemicals	[email protected]
DfT	Essential transport	[email protected]
DHSC	Medicines Medical devices Clinical consumable supplies	[email protected]
Home Office	Emergency services Border control	[email protected]
MoD	Essential defence outputs	[email protected]
MHCLG	Local government	[email protected]

In some exceptional cases there may be critical roles in sectors not listed in the table above which meet the criteria. These will be agreed on a case-by-case basis. Where employers think this applies, they should contact the government department with responsibility for their sector.

If any of your workers test positive

Employers should call the Self-Isolation Service Hub on 020 3743 6715 as soon as they are made aware that any of their workers have tested positive.

Employers will need to provide the 8-digit NHS Test and Trace Account ID (sometimes referred to as a CTAS number) of the person who tested positive, alongside the names of co-workers identified as close contacts. This will ensure that all workplace contacts are registered with NHS Test and Trace and can receive the necessary public health advice, including the support available to help people to self-isolate.

In the event of an outbreak in the workplace, employers should contact their local health protection team.

If workers cannot work from home

If a worker cannot work from home, you:

• may consider giving them the option to use their paid leave days

• should pay contractual sick pay, where appropriate

• must ensure they receive Statutory Sick Pay as a minimum, provided they meet the eligibility criteria

• should make workers aware of the support available to help them to self-isolate

Employees in self-isolation are entitled to Statutory Sick Pay for every day of work missed for their self-isolation period, provided they meet the eligibility criteria.

Small and medium employers (with fewer than 250 employees) may be able to reclaim their costs for Statutory Sick Pay. NHS Test and Trace will provide evidence to your employee that they have been told to self-isolate, and how long for. You may ask your employee to follow the instructions on getting an isolation note if you require further evidence.

Find out more about employment rights if someone needs to self-isolate or cannot attend work due to COVID-19

Collecting contact details for NHS Test and Trace and NHS QR code check-in

It is no longer a legal requirement for venues to request that individuals 'check in', though this is still encouraged to help stop the spread of COVID-19. See guidance on maintaining records of staff, customers and visitors to support NHS Test and Trace.

You should ask every customer or visitor (over the age of 16) to 'check in' by either:

• scanning the NHS QR code poster via their NHS COVID-19 app
• providing their name and telephone number (this can be done in advance, for example, via a pre-booking system). You should also note the date of entry

You should also:

• keep a record of all staff working on your premises, their shift times and dates, and their contact details
• keep these records of customers, visitors and staff for 21 days and provide this information to NHS Test and Trace, if requested
• display an NHS QR code poster so that customers and visitors can 'check in' using the NHS COVID-19 app (as an alternative to providing their contact details)
• adhere to data protection legislation

If there are multiple new cases of COVID-19 linked to a venue, NHS Test and Trace may send an alert to people who checked in to the venue on the same day with advice to book a test. Attendees will not have to self-isolate unless they test positive for COVID-19. If an individual checked in to the venue by scanning the NHS QR code poster with their NHS COVID-19 app, they will receive a notification sent within the app. An individual who checked in by providing their contact details will be sent a text message.

Guidance for workers

If you develop symptoms, you should get a free PCR test as soon as your symptoms start.

If the test is positive

If you are notified of a positive test result by NHS Test and Trace, you are legally required to self-isolate for either:

• 10 days from the day after your symptoms started
• 10 days after the day of the positive test if you did not have symptoms

You will be asked by NHS Test and Trace to provide details of anyone who you have been in close contact with. This will not automatically be all of your co-workers, but those who are assessed as meeting the definition of a close contact.

NHS Test and Trace will notify those you had close contact with and instruct them to self-isolate. When NHS Test and Trace notifies contacts to self-isolate, it does not tell them the identity of the person who has tested positive. If you are notified that you have been identified as a close contact of a positive case, then you are legally required to self-isolate for 10 days beginning the day after the last time you were exposed to the positive case.

If you are an NHS COVID-19 app user, please share your positive COVID-19 test result anonymously with other app users so that people you have been in close contact with recently will be alerted.

If you are told to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace you must stay at home

If you are told to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace and are due to work somewhere other than your place of self-isolation, you have a legal duty to inform your employer as soon as possible before you are next due to work. Failure to do so could result in a £50 fine. If the NHS COVID-19 app identifies that you have been in contact with a confirmed case you should self-isolate and get a test. There is no legal requirement to tell your employer about an app alert.

If you need to provide evidence to your employer of a positive test result, or the fact that you have been in close contact with a positive case, you can request an isolation note from the NHS.

You can arrange to have a single PCR test whether or not you have symptoms. This is because you are at a higher risk of being infected. You should arrange to have this test as soon as possible within your 10-day isolation period, so that NHS Test and Trace can identify the people that you have been in contact with if your test result is positive. See guidance for contacts of people with confirmed coronavirus (COVID-19) infection who do not live with the person.

A negative test result does not mean that you can stop self-isolating as you may still be in the incubation period (the time between exposure to the virus and symptom onset), and you could go on to develop COVID-19 in the following days.

Find out more about employment rights if you need to self-isolate or cannot attend work due to COVID-19.

Using the NHS COVID-19 app as a worker

Once you have downloaded the app, it should be left on as much as possible to notify you if you have been exposed to the virus. If contact tracing is turned off then the app will not work as intended and you will not be notified if another app user, who you have been in close contact with, later tests positive for COVID-19.

However, there are some specific workplace scenarios when you are advised to pause the contact tracing feature. These are:

• when you are working behind a fixed Perspex (or equivalent) screen and are fully protected from other people

• if you store your phone in a locker or communal area, for example while working

• if you are a worker in health and social care and are wearing medical grade PPE such as a surgical mask

• if you are a healthcare worker working in a healthcare building such as a hospital or GP surgery

Contact tracing can be paused within the app by selecting 'manage contact tracing' on the home screen. It's important you turn the contact tracing toggle back on as soon as you are not in one of the above scenarios, for example, when you retrieve your phone from your locker. To help you, you will be given the option to pause the feature for different time periods - after which you will receive a reminder to turn the contact tracing feature back on.

Critical services

In exceptional circumstances, where you have been identified as a close contact of someone who has tested positive, if you are fully vaccinated and you work in a critical sector and role, your employer may - with the agreement of the relevant government department - ask you if you are able to continue to come into work, subject to following a number of safeguards to minimise risk to other people.

Further information can be found in the employer section above.

Support for people self-isolating

Statutory Sick Pay

If it is not possible for you to work, you may receive Statutory Sick Pay, provided you meet the eligibility criteria.

Some employers choose to offer more than the statutory minimum and provide additional financial support to their workers while they are unable to work. This is known as 'contractual' or 'occupational' sick pay.

If you are not eligible for Statutory Sick Pay, you may be able to claim for other welfare support, such as Universal Credit or New Style Employment and Support Allowance.

Further guidance is available on what to do if you are employed and cannot work.

Test and Trace Support Payment Scheme

If you are told to stay at home and self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace or the NHS COVID-19 app, you may be eligible for a payment of £500 from your local authority through the Test and Trace Support Payment Scheme. The scheme is also open to parents and guardians who have not been told to self-isolate, but who need to take time off work to care for a child who is required to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace.

More information on the scheme and eligibility criteria.

You will need an NHS Test and Trace Account ID to apply.

If you have not tested positive but you are identified as a close contact, your employer should call the Self-Isolation Service Hub on 020 3743 6715 to obtain an NHS Test and Trace Account ID for you.

Your employer will need to provide the NHS Test and Trace Account ID of the person who tested positive and your name as a close contact. You will not be able to claim for the Test and Trace Support Payment scheme if you have not been registered with the Self-Isolation Service Hub.

Financial support for the self-employed

If you are self-employed, you must continue to work from home if you can. If you cannot, you should follow the sector-specific advice.

If your business has been affected by COVID-19, you may be eligible for a grant through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.

Other support for people self-isolating

If you are required to self-isolate, you may also be able to get non-financial support such as help delivering food or with other practical tasks.

More information on the practical or social support available..

Published 27 May 2020
Last updated 22 July 2021 + show all updates

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