Nicola Sturgeon has urged businesses not to find 'loopholes' that allows them to remain open or have staff physically at work.
Speaking at today's daily briefing following yesterday's nationwide coronavirus lockdown announcement, the First Minister said businesses must comply with the Scottish Government's 'stay at home' message.
She said: "You must work from home if you can. In fact, it's only permissible to leave home to go to work if you cannot work from home.
"Businesses and employers have a big part to play in making sure that we can achieve that. The Economy Secretary spoke to business organisations yesterday to reinforce this message.
"I want to be clear that we really need businesses in this next phase, as they have been throughout, to be responsible, to help us fight this virus.
"That means not always looking for the loophole that allows you to stay open or have staff physically at work - instead it means thinking about how you as a business can maximise your contribution to the collective challenge we all face."
Ms Sturgeon added that the government would do "all we can" to support businesses facing hardship during
UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak has offered a £4.6 billion grant to retail, hospitality and leisure businesses, with sites able to claim a one-off payment of up to £9,000.
Ms Sturgeon said: "In return, government will do all we can to maximise the financial support available to you. The Chancellor of the Exchequer has just announced, this morning, additional financial support for businesses.
"We are, over the course of today, trying to get clarity on the detail of that so we then know what that enables us to do in addition to the financial support for businesses that is already in place."
It comes as the First Minister confirmed a total of 2,529 people have tested positive for covid in Scotland in the past 24 hours, with 11 deaths were recorded in the past 24 hours.
