Frequently asked questions

The situation surrounding Coronavirus is fast-moving and ongoing with developments happening regularly, so it is important to keep yourself up to date.

If you have any immediate issues or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact the HR service desk.

The FAQs are grouped as follows:

• Health and Self-isolation
• Caring responsibilities
• Working from home and alternative working arrangements
• Annual leave
• Recruitment
• Other miscellaneous questions

Health and self-isolation

I am feeling anxious what can I do?

If you are feeling anxious about Covid or indeed any other matter, there are a range of support services available - refer to the wellbeing section on SchoolsWeb link below:

View the Coronavirus Wellbeing support for school staff (SchoolsWeb)

What do I do if I am ill with Coronavirus or have Coronavirus symptoms?

In line with normal sickness absence reporting procedures, you should inform your Headteacher or manager from the senior leadership team. 

If you have Coronavirus symptoms and are unable to work, then you should inform your Headteacher or manager from the senior leadership team and this will be recorded as sickness absence and sick pay will be covered in line with individual terms and conditions.

If you have Coronavirus symptoms but feel able to work, then we would ask that you do so from home. In these circumstances, you should inform your Headteacher or manager and talk about work that you can carry out from home. This will not be recorded as a sickness absence and you should be paid as normal.

If your symptoms become worse and you feel unable to work, please inform your Headteacher or the appropriate member of your senior leadership team.

Covid 19 Symptoms and Self Isolation

The most common symptoms of Covid 19 are recent onset of any of the following

• A new continuous cough
• A high temperature
• A loss of, or change in, your normal taste or smell

In these circumstances, you should self-isolate and arrange a test in line with the current Government guidance Stay at home guidance (gov.uk)

What do I do when I am self-isolating?

As outlined above, if you have Coronavirus symptoms and are unable to work then you should inform your Headteacher or the appropriate member of your senior leadership team and this will be recorded as sickness absence. You should arrange a test in line with the current Government guidance

If you have Coronavirus symptoms or are self-isolating because you are a close contact but feel able to work from home, then you should do so. In these circumstances, you should inform your Headteacher or the appropriate member of your senior leadership team and talk about work that you can carry out from home. This will not be recorded as a sickness absence and you should be paid as normal. However, if your symptoms become worse and you feel unable to work, please inform your Headteacher or the appropriate member of your senior leadership team.

How do we record self-isolation on SIMS?

If you are self-isolating but still working from home, you do not need to record anything as you are still working. If you are off sick because you are ill with symptoms you should record sickness in the usual way.

How will coronavirus absence impact my record if my absence is being monitored under sickness absence management arrangements?

Sickness absence management procedures will continue, however it is recognised that some of the timescales for managing sickness absence processes may be relaxed during this time. Your Headteacher or member of the senior leadership team will discuss your specific circumstances with you at the appropriate time.  

A staff member is not self-isolating or displaying symptoms, but has told me they are worried and don’t want to come to work, what should I do?

It is anticipated that employees will, as far as possible within the constraints of school closures, caring responsibilities, and complying with Government advice on self-isolating and social distancing, continue to perform their duties and be flexible to ensure that services continue to be provided. If difficulties arise with a refusal to attend work or a refusal to carry out certain duties, managers should ascertain what the concerns are, consider what, if anything, can be reasonably done to address those concerns, and take action accordingly, to encourage the individual to work. You may wish to consider undertaking a risk assessment with the employee to discuss and document the risks that they feel unsure of. A referral to occupational health may be worthwhile as the employee may have underlying health concerns that the school is not aware of and has not needed to be aware of.

If the above has been done, but the individual still refuses to attend or perform the task then this may constitute unauthorised absence or partial performance (ie where they are only prepared to carry out certain tasks rather than their full range of duties)., which may justify a reduction or withdrawal of pay. The manager should explain the individual’s contractual obligations and the consequences of unreasonably refusing to work. Any decisions on whether to withhold pay should be made by the head. Failure to adhere to reasonable management instruction may require the school to consider invoking the Conduct & Discipline procedures following discussions with HR.

If there is still no change in the individual’s position, advice should be sought from the HR Service Desk to ensure an appropriate and consistent approach can be taken.

I am booked to go abroad or I have been abroad

Please take your annual leave and enjoy a break from work, but if you intend to travel abroad, the rules are complex and ever-changing, and you must keep up to date if you intend to travel abroad for any reason. Please check before you travel.

Travel to England and what you need to do based on your vaccination status (GOV.UK)

Someone in my household is having an operation and they have been advised that they and everyone within the household have to self-isolate prior to their operation.  What does this mean for me?

If you have been advised to self-isolate as a result of somebody in your household due to having an operation, then you must follow this advice for health and safety reasons.

You should notify your headteacher of the situation, and if possible, you should work from home. If you are not able to work from home due to your role, then there may be alternative options, which you should discuss with your headteacher. If there are no alternative options to aid you in working from home you will receive normal pay while you are self-isolating

Caring responsibilities

I have care responsibilities for someone who has Covid 19 symptoms or who has contracted Coronavirus, what should I do?

If you are caring for someone who has Coronavirus or who has Coronavirus symptoms then speak to your Headteacher about how they can support you by putting in place flexible working arrangements – this could include working from home or adapting work patterns.  You may be able to use annual leave or take carers leave or compassionate leave if this is accounted for in your terms and conditions.

My child's school has closed – what do I do?

Speak to your Headteacher or member of the senior leadership team. They will need to consider the latest government guidance and bear in mind the role you are in. If it is possible for you to work from home, you might be able to flex your hours to work around your children including during naps, in the evenings, or outside normal work hours if this helps.

If your role does not allow you to work from home, you may be able to use annual leave or take carers leave or compassionate leave if this is accounted for in your terms and conditions.

Annual leave

What happens to my leave if my planned holiday is either cancelled by me or by a holiday operator because of Coronavirus?

For non-term time only staff the headteacher may decide that your holiday will be re-credited However it is recognised that staff should continue to use their annual leave for their health and wellbeing.

Recruitment

It’s important to continue to be as flexible as we can while maintaining safeguarding standards to ensure we can still carry out the work that needs to happen whilst all of this is going on. Further information can be obtained by emailing: advertising@buckinghamshire.gov.uk

If you are recruiting a Headteacher to a maintained school, please ensure that you contact School Improvement Advisor Naureen Kausar at naureen.kausar@buckinghamshire.gov.uk for advice, support, and for LA representation.

Should I continue to advertise my vacancies?

Yes, you should continue with your recruitment activities, you will need to consider different ways in which you conduct interviews and assessments

What can we do instead of schools tours?

Whilst it is important to give candidates tours of the school so they can get a feel for the culture and speak to staff and pupils, you can still give candidates an opportunity to speak with the Headteacher or Chair of Governors or other members of staff virtually. You can also direct candidates to view your school website to find out more, if you have videos or images of the school, that’s also a good way for them to view the school.

You may also consider having a virtual tour with candidates via Facetime or MS teams on your phone/laptop.

How can we interview and assess during this time?

You should consider continuing with remote interviewing as it is still important to keep contact to a minimum where possible. There have been great examples of positive feedback about the remote interviewing process within our schools and where possible this can continue.

Remote interview guidance can be found on SchoolsWeb, schools bulletin and by asking a member of the school improvement team or contacting the resourcing team at advertising@buckinghamshire.gov.uk 

Further information will be made available shortly.

Do we still have to do safeguarding checks?

Yes, it remains essential that people who are unsuitable are not allowed to enter the children’s workforce or gain access to children.  Please see full guidance on safer recruitment during this period in the safeguarding section of FAQs (SchoolsWeb)

Miscellaneous

I have incurred costs due to coronavirus, what can you do to help?

We need to understand the direct additional costs of coronavirus, so any spending specifically because of coronavirus will need to be agreed upon under the normal procurement processes.

Where the spend is directly related to coronavirus, e.g. you have had to purchase additional equipment, then you must also let your School Business Manager know in advance so that the cost can be agreed upon and funded by the school.

See the Finance section for more details.

What advice is available for educational staff from overseas?

If you are or work with, staff from overseas who have immigration concerns, you should follow government guidance about visas and immigration.

If you are or work with, staff from overseas who have questions about travelling during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, you should follow government guidance for education staff.

You can recall foreign nationals who have returned home. However, you should notify them asap to give them time to make necessary arrangements (e.g. book flights).  Bear in mind the current Government guidance on travel and self-isolation – see relevant FAQ above

Staff from overseas who have immigration concerns should follow government guidance about visas and immigration.  Extensions are being granted for those whose visa expires up to 31 May 2020

Can we proceed with face-to-face formal hearings (e.g. disciplinary)?

When schools fully re-opened on 1 September, all of the usual processes went back into place.

Where it is not possible or practical to convene a meeting face to face (participants are having to self-isolate for example or during further periods of lockdown) then with the agreement of all parties video conferencing can be used.

A member of my staff is pregnant and unwilling to return to work. What should I do?

Government advice is that employees in the clinically vulnerable category (which includes pregnancy) should be able to return to their job in school provided the school has followed the advice set out in the current government guidance.

You will need to talk to the member of staff to better understand their concerns and to reassure them of all the steps that have been taken to ensure the safety of staff. Explain that you will need to undertake an individual health and safety risk assessment of the member of staff and arrange for them to be referred to Occupational health to seek reassurance and to check if there are any underlying health conditions which may affect their return to work.

Government guidance for pregnant women can be found here

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-advice-for-pregnant-employees

What is long COVID, and how should I support a colleague who may be suffering from this?

‘Long COVID’ (also known as Post-COVID-19 Syndrome) is a condition that we are still learning about, but based on many reports from sufferers it can present as a wide range of persistent symptoms which began during or following COVID-19 infection.

These symptoms appear to range from mild (ongoing changes to the sense of taste and/or smell) to moderate (persistent shortness of breath, for example), and the support a person requires – if any – will depend on what type of symptoms they have.

Long COVID is not contagious, and; with the exception of a fever (which could indicate continuing infectious potential) even if someone who tested positive for COVID-19 has persistent symptoms after their 10 days of self-isolation they can still return to their life and work as normal.