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Agri Blog
Opinions and insights from Roythornes' agriculture team
In this Q&A (published 05 June 2020) we look at the new self-isolation rules for seasonal workers travelling to farms in England.
For farms with seasonal workers due to arrive from abroad on or after 8 June 2020, there is an extremely useful exemption from the general 14-day self-isolation rule. However, there is some small print that employers need to be aware of, and not all farms will be able to make use of the exemption.
The focus of the self-isolation exemption for seasonal workers is food and drink production, so farms benefitting are:
The range of activities is widely drawn. It includes not only husbandry, maintenance and harvesting of crops, but:
Exempt seasonal workers from abroad do not have to remain in isolation from other people who live or work on the farm. But they do have to self-isolate as far as people off farm are concerned; in other words, they must stay on farm for 14 days after arrival, except in certain limited circumstances. Those limited circumstances include seeking urgent medical assistance and shopping for essential food supplies if these cannot be obtained any other way.
Yes, there is. For the first 14 days after their arrival, seasonal workers from abroad cannot go off farm, whereas their colleagues from the UK can.
But the social distancing practices you have put in place on the farm will apply in the same way to everybody, as will any testing or reporting regime. (The AHDB has produced a very useful guide on best practices to avoid the spread of coronavirus on fruit and vegetable farms, in collaboration with the NFU, The Association of Labour Providers, G’s Fresh and Defra.)
No, there is no requirement to test your workers. But if you have introduced initial or regular testing under your health and safety policy, then this will apply to seasonal workers from abroad in the same way as it does to local workers.
Roythornes has produced some guidance for farm businesses on new starters and the impacts of coronavirus.
He or she should self-isolate in the same way as any other worker, in accordance with the rules. If he/she is part of a cohort who live and work together, the whole cohort should self-isolate.
Not during the 14-day isolation period. The exemption requires a seasonal worker to self-isolate on a specified farm. Of course, after 14 days you will be able to move them to a different production unit (as long, of course, as they have not started to display any symptoms of the virus).
The worker will need to have:
Employers should ensure that their employment offer sets out details of:
and that it contains an explicit reference to the seasonal nature of the employment.
Please note: The above guidance is based on the law and official guidance as at 4 June 2020. It is intended as general guidance only. Feel free to contact Desley Sherwin or Phil Cookson with any queries about the issues discussed.
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