COVID-19 Individual Staff Risk Assessment for staff who are shielding or more than 28 weeks pregnant after 1 April 2021

IMPORTANT: Work From Home notice for Clinically Extremely Vulnerable Employees. Please see "Advice for Clinically Extremely Vulnerable Employees" in the 'You may also like' section 

A small number of staff are currently shielding. The government has stated that they may be allowed to come to work after 1 April 2021 if certain criteria are met.

The City of Wolverhampton Council has until now also recommended that staff who are 28 weeks or more into their pregnancy are also only allowed to work from home, based on evidence and statements from specialist bodies.

The expectation is still that all people in these categories work from home wherever possible, and that every possible step is taken to ensure this.

However, in light of the new guidance from government, the Risk Assessment Guidance and Tool has been updated (the first updated version is V1.2) to help managers and staff make individual COVID-19 risk assessments for staff who are either shielding or more than 28 weeks pregnant, if they are considering that they might be able to return to work. The return may only occur on or after 1 April 2021.

All relevant information on considering whether someone in these groups can leave their home for work is in Appendix 3 of the Guidance Tool (Note Key Guidance is in section 4.0 of Appendix 3 on page 16). There is additional useful information on who is in the shielding group (Appendix 1), and what letters have been sent to this group (Appendix 4) (some of these letters are in the downloads section of this page).

In addition to updating the Guidance Tool, there is now an Individual Risk Assessment Form (Title: "Staff Risk Assessment Form for COVID-19: Staff who are shielding or more than 28 weeks pregnant, if working from home is not possible") which must be used with all staff in these groups where a return to work is being considered. It can be found in the downloads section to the right of this page.

If a manager is considering allowing a staff member in these two groups (Shielding or staff more than 28 weeks pregnant) to work outside their home after 1 April 2021 then all of the following must be in place:

  1. Every possible step must be taken to enable them to work from home.
  2. The Shielding Risk Assessment Form ("Staff Risk Assessment Form for COVID-19: Staff who are shielding or more than 28 weeks pregnant, if working from home is not possible") is used for all who cannot work from home.
  3. We recommend that they only work outside of their homes if stringent 2m social distancing can be adhered to at work
  4. The employer must have COVID-secure status.
  5. Individual adaptations must be made for each person in these categories whose risk assessment allows them to work outside of their home, and there must be ongoing review.

Once the shielding risk assessment form in the downloads section of this page has been completed, please submit it as you would do the standard risk assessment form. Details, including on correct data handling, can be found on the Individual Risk Assessment page.

If there are questions about the process or individual cases, please initially direct these towards the HR department. Managers should continue to follow the HR guidance for pregnant employees.

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