Work from home rules are set to be tightened in Scotland amid concerns over the Omicron Covid variant.
Nicola Sturgeon today announced a raft of new guidance and rules designed to help slow the spread of the mutant virus strain during the busy festive period.
This included recommending caps on the number of households Scots should meet with in the run up to Christmas, while social distancing rules should be reapplied in shops.
The First Minister made the announcement to MSPs at Holyrood earlier amid warnings of an ‘exponential growth’ in Omicron cases in Scotland.
So far, the Scottish Government has identified 296 confirmed cases of the mutant variant - but the actual figure is said to be much higher.
Early studies have also shown that Omicron may have a negative impact on the effectiveness of two doses of the coronavirus vaccine.
It is predicted that Omicron will become the dominant strain of coronavirus ‘within days’ in Scotland.
The First Minister recently urged employers to allow workers to work from home once again - this will now become law over the coming days.
Sturgeon said that the country is “not yet maximising the impact of home working to reduce the overall contacts”.
In an address to MSPs today, Sturgeon said: “For employers more generally, the guidance will make clear that enabling staff who were working from home at the start of the pandemic to do so again is now a legal duty.
“I am hugely grateful to employers who are already allowing staff to work at home where possible, but we are not yet maximising the impact of home working to reduce the overall numbers of contacts we are having.”
Who will be legally required to work from home?
Sturgeon said that workers that were able to work from home at the beginning of the pandemic have been ordered to do so again.
A number of Scots businesses started to welcome back staff after the majority of Covid restrictions were lifted in August this year.
Who will the rules not apply to?
Workers that are unable to carry out their job from their home will be allowed to enter their place of work under the new rules.
This includes staff in the likes of manufacturing, construction, hospitality, retail, supermarket and at a range of key public services - such as the police, fire service, hospitals and transport services.
In April 2020, a month after the first lockdown, the UK Government issued a list of the people identified as key workers allowed to leave their homes for work in April 2020.
This included people in childcare, teaching, social care, religion, journalism, broadcasting, food production, energy and postal services.
Staff who are unable to work from home are being encouraged to test regularly before setting off for work.
Good ventilation systems must be in place for workers and good hand and respiratory hygiene must be encouraged.
Face coverings must also be worn in all indoor areas - including communal areas, such as work stations, staff rooms, training rooms and breakout areas.
Anyone who has tested positive for Covid, has symptoms or is a close contact must follow NHS Scotland’s Test and Protect rules on self-isolation.
