Managing staff who don't adhere to government cover guidance...

[Glitterlikeawinner]

hello, a message for fellow HR staff on here!
I work in an office based environment which has just started to allow up to 25% capacity of employees on site. We've been made aware of a few employees who have returned who are posting images of themselves or talking about activities they are doing that are breaching the government guidelines for social distancing outside of work etc (house parties mainly!). Their manager has asked me if we can send them home as its causing anxiety amongst others in the office him being there.
(I have no doubt there are more who are not following the guidelines but not posting on social media!)
I would assume if the employee was not following the business h&s guidance on site at the office we could address more formally through the normal channels, but what if anything can we do about behaviour outside of work which may increase risk of infection to colleagues?
Thanks in advance!!

I would be very careful about checking up your staff on social media, and using information you find.

Whilst I agree it is very irresponsible of them to behaviour in ways that could put their colleagues lives at risk, but you need to manage the situation very carefully, firstly to increase the likelihood of compliance through cooperation rather than enforcement and secondly to ensure you treat all staff equally, with consistent information.

I work for a large Government department and we have regular briefings about COVID including the way we are expected to behave and reinforcement of Government guidance. We won't get into the vagaries of whether the guidance is consistent but my advice is that the more frequently you communicate and reinforce the company policy on being COVID safe the better.

It sounds like there is one person at the centre of this.

A meeting between them and their line manager is needed to say that concerns have been raised and to find out whether the person is clear about how they should behave, for their own safety and the safety of others. The message being - You can't chain people into their chairs so to speak, life is starting to ease in terms of the lockdown and we're all having to come to terms with significant changes in our lives.

If your company can invest in some COVID safe signage (there's bound to be some government issued materials to download or copy) visual indicators in work are also a very useful reminder.

Step away from trying to police peoples lives outside work.

Might be worth telling staff to look at privacy settings on social media.

Put screens up, one way routes. Cleaning and leave it at that

(This site definitely needs an edit button!)

I wouldn't leap into sending them home before having the meeting. This is uncharted territory. Find out their attitude, if they're not cooperative, then it's time to become more formal, but ensuring they know the consequences of their actions