The SFSC MAC has purchased access to an Employment Assistant programme EAP provider service. This is CONFIDENTIAL SUPPORT, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  You will be able to access a team of trained wellbeing and counselling practitioners to support all employees offering confidential, independent and unbiased information and guidance by telephone, in writing, online and through face-to-face appointments for a wide variety of issues. Contact on 0800 028 5147 or for further information go to: https://strictlyeducation.optimise.health

There are plenty of other useful resources and online services available to support at this time including. Mental Health Foundation.

We also encourage you to keep in regular, safe contact with your colleagues, family and friends.  Please do not hesitate to contact our HR Officer, if you have any questions.

Our bereavement policy can be found here: https://www.sfscmac.co.uk/staff/ 

Melissa Cutter [email protected] or 

Dan Belcher [email protected]

All covid related absence will be considered as with other types of illness, in line with normal sick pay provisions and SFSC MAC sickness absence policy.

If you have COVID-19, you may pass on the virus to other people for up to 10 days from when your infection starts. Many people will no longer be infectious to others after 5 days.

You should:

  • try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for 5 days
  • avoiding meeting people at higher risk from COVID-19 for 10 days, especially if their immune system means they’re at higher risk of serious illness. 
  • If you are still testing positive and do not have a temperature and feel well, you should return to work on the 6th day.  (For some people testing positive can remain for many days/weeks, however you are no longer infectious)
  • If you are well enough to do so, continue to work from home, if the nature of your role enables you to do so, in agreement with your line manager/Principal.  This may entail redirection of work that is suitable for you to complete off site, if deemed necessary/appropriate.
  • If you are not well enough to work or your work is not able to be carried out from home, you will be classed as being sick for the days you are unable to work.

If any employee does have a concern about their personal situation or circumstances please speak with your line manager/Principal in the first instance or contact a member of the SFSC MAC HR team. 

The government recognises the importance of keeping our communities safe, as well as ensuring essential services and provision for our young people. 

For the latest NHS guidance please go to NHS

As the requirement for SSP has been nationally removed since 24th March 2022 it is appropriate from 1st April 2022 to treat those with Covid as with any other illness and the employer’s normal sick pay provisions will apply in the event of absence.  We will from 1st January 2024 count these absences (5 days) within SFSC MAC absence monitoring, unless you are working from home in agreement with your line manager/Principal.

There is a suite of information and access to national websites that are constantly being updated with the latest information.  For the latest NHS guidance please go to NHS

As a MAC employee you were requested to complete online training to give you further guidance. 

We also request that you complete the following courses:-

  • Wellbeing and Remote Working
  • Coping with COVID19 Anxiety

If you did not complete this, please email our Health and Safety Officer, Melaine Grychtol on  [email protected] 

 

The latest guidance for the Clinically Extremely Vulnerable employees is accessible from: here  There is no requirement for CEV employees to work from home, however precautionary measures should be considered should a local outbreak occur and be of concern.

If in the future, the government reintroduces formal restrictive shielding advice or consideration needs to be made in the event of an outbreak, where this has been advised by the Chief Medical Officer, the MAC will ensure appropriate guidance is followed. 

However, we will look to put in place a Risk Assessment if you are concerned about your health and feel additional measures need to be considered to support your wellbeing.  

The risk assessment is central to the management of pregnant employees and this should still consider any risks presented by Covid and attempt to mitigate accordingly.  This should take account of the rate of infection and the working environment, any extra measures recommended etc.  “Information contained in the RCOG/RCM guidance on coronavirus (COVID-19) in pregnancy should be used as the basis for a risk assessment.” 

Only in exceptional circumstances, should there be a cause of concern, in line with UK GDPR guidance.

No, However we strongly recommend that you do, to protect yourself from being seriously ill from the virus and to protect others in the risk of transmission.  We are all learning to live with COVID19 in the community and the ongoing concerns of increased transmission and the associated risks.  Living safely with respiratory infections, including COVID-19 – GOV.UK

The Government acknowledges in the guidance that “whilst it is not possible to ensure a totally risk-free environment, the Office of National Statistics analysis on risk suggests that staff in educational settings tend not to be at any greater risk from the disease than many other occupations. There is no evidence that children transmit the disease any more than adults.”

Each individual also has a duty of care to ensure that they operate safely within their environment and adhere to the updated guidance in place to their local setting.

The Academy has always supported during the pandemic those who wish to wear suitable face coverings in years 5-13 and all staff.  This has been part of overall approach to effective infection protection and controls: minimise contact with individuals who are unwell; clean your hands thoroughly and more often; ensure good respiratory hygiene by promoting the ‘catch it, bin it, kill it’ approach; introduce enhanced cleaning, including cleaning frequently touched surfaces often using standard products as per guidance; minimise contact between individuals and maintain distancing wherever possible; where necessary wear PPE.  Face masks with valves are not currently recommended in community settings. The  government has ceased the mandatory requirement to wear face coverings in law. 

Full PPE is only needed in a number of cases including:

  • children, young people and students, whose care routinely already involves the use of PPE due to their intimate care needs, should continue to receive their care in the same way
  • if a child, young person or other learner becomes unwell with symptoms of coronavirus while in their setting and needs direct personal care until they can return home.

All sites following stringent MAC guidance that have been considered and worked following national guidance.  Policy on Infection Control is located in the policy section.

Please contact the IT team via email: [email protected].

In addition to following government guidelines on safe travel, to support our employees there is a Cycle to Work Scheme.  This enables employees to hire bicycles and equipment via a salary sacrifice from their gross salary, helping them to save through reduced tax and national insurance contributions.  Please contact the MAC HR team for more information.

These FAQ are placed on the SFSC MAC staff pages under Key Information – and will get updated regularly, subject to review.  Please continue to check emails regularly.

http://www.sfscmac.co.uk/staff/