UPDATE – 22/01/2021
The Ministry of Justice has this week confirmed to the Society that critical worker status is not extended to Will Writers. Members in lockdown should continue to work from home, conducting appointments remotely and only going to work, whether at an office or in a client’s home, where absolutely necessary.
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UPDATE – 05/01/2020
The Government has now introduced another national lockdown and has updated the guidance to say the following:
You can only leave home for work purposes where it is unreasonable for you to do your job from home
As we have been advising since March, you should endeavour to conduct your appointments remotely where possible, doing as much as you can to limit your contact with others. You can read our remote working guidance using the links below.
The full National Lockdown Guidance is available here.
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UPDATE – 22/12/2020
The Government have introduced new Tier 4 restrictions in England. The rules on working in other people’s have not changed, however you should only be doing so where it can be done in a Covid-secure manner, and you should work from home wherever possible.
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE – 11/2020
As you will know by now the Government will be imposing new national restrictions in England beginning Thursday 5th November 2020.
We realise that this no doubt raises many questions for our members about the effects it may have on them and how, or whether they can continue working during this time.
The Government have issued guidance which states (paraphrased for most relevant points):
1. Stay at home
This means you must not leave or be outside of your home except for specific purposes. These include:
- for work purposes, where your place of work remains open and where you cannot work from home (including if your job involves working in other people’s homes).
6. Going to work
- To help contain the virus, everyone who can work effectively from home must do so.
9. Protecting people more at risk from coronavirus
If you are over 60 or clinically vulnerable, you could be at higher risk of severe illness from coronavirus. You:
- should be especially careful to follow the rules and minimise your contact with others.
11. Travel
You should avoid travelling in or out of your local area, and you should look to reduce the number of journeys you make. However you can and should still travel for a number of reasons, including:
- travelling to work where this cannot be done from home
You can read the guidance in full here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/new-national-restrictions-from-5-november#going-to-work
Therefore, under these new restrictions, you are still permitted to travel for work, either to your office or inside people’s homes providing that it is being done in a ‘covid-secure’ manner and only where you absolutely cannot work from home.
If you must visit your clients in their home, you must always remember to wash your hands regularly, wear face coverings in enclosed spaces and follow social distancing guidelines (remembered as ‘Hands, Face, Space’). Please pay particular attention to those clients who are classed as vulnerable and under no circumstances should you enter someone’s home where either you or they are displaying symptoms of COVID-19.
We would however urge members to work remotely wherever possible for the safety of yourselves and your clients. For our guidance on working remotely, please see the following articles:
https://www.willwriters.com/blog/remote-instructions/
https://www.willwriters.com/blog/video-witnessing-legalised/
Until Thursday you should still be adhering to your local restrictions and guidelines as the national ones have not yet come into force. For those members elsewhere in the UK and even the world, please check with your own government’s guidance in case any of the above differs.
We will publish further updates if and when new or more information becomes available.
If you have any questions, issues, or require any further advice, remember that we are here to help.
Stay safe, look after one another and do stay in touch.
