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Dear colleagues, 

I’m writing to you following the Government’s decision to recommend that more people work from home. The updated public health advice from today is that “Everyone should revert to working from home unless it is necessary to attend the workplace in person”. This new guidance returns us to the position before 20th September.

The intention of this advice is to reduce the spread of Covid. The new measures will mitigate against the risk of transmission of the virus in the workplace as well as in public spaces, including public transport, and across society as a whole.

For this reason, we are requesting all staff, who can work from home, to do so unless this affects in person teaching and research.

There are some categories of employees who are deemed essential workers and will still be required to work on site.  These include the following:

• Attendance for onsite work for essential work such as security, maintenance, cleaning, catering, Creche, and grounds maintenance and any other essential work that cannot be carried out from home.

• Education and Research are deemed an essential service, and those involved in delivery and/organising of teaching, and research, (particularly lab work), should continue to come on to the campus. 

• In the event that employees may need to attend the workplace for onboarding, training and development activities, the line manager should clearly identify these activities and monitor their frequency.

• Where the home environment may be unsuitable for work purposes, this should be agreed between the individual and the line manager, and accommodation made on site if possible.  

• In the case that an employee may benefit from attending the workplace from a mental health perspective, this should be agreed between the individual and the line manager, and accommodation made on site if possible.  In this situation, the line manager should contact HR to organise an appointment with Occupational Health to determine whether this is appropriate in the circumstances. 

• If you are working on site, please remember to adhere to safety guidelines at all times and remember that mask wearing, hand washing, social distancing all remain important.

This is definitely a difficult time for both staff and students. I appreciate that it is far from easy and that many people are particularly worried as the virus surges. I can assure you that the situation is being kept under constant review. In the meantime, we will continue to do our best to keep teaching and research going while minding the safety of the entire college community.

Best regards, 

Antoinette Quinn

Director of Human Resources

Antoinette Quinn 

Stiúrthóir na nAcmhainní Daonna

 

See below some links which you may find useful

The most up to date COVID advice can be found on the Department of Health website (here)

Health and Safety Authority Remote Work Guidance:- https://www.hsa.ie/eng/topics/remote_working/homeworking_guidance_9mar21_v8.pdf

Guidance for Working Remotely - DETE (enterprise.gov.ie)

HSE Guidance on Close Contacts:- If you are a close contact of COVID-19 - HSE.ie