Planning for 2022

We hope that you have been able to enjoy some of our wonderful summer weather. After 2020 and 2021, I think we all hoped that 2022 would provide some respite, but with Omicron now in the community we are in for another year of challenges.

Put some plans in place now and consider how you will deal with staff shortages and how you will continue to provide services during the Government phased response with different isolation requirements for cases and contacts:

At Phase One

• cases must isolate for 14 days (release by health official)
• contacts need to quarantine for 10 days (test days five and eight, if symptomatic, then test immediately).

At Phase Two

• cases need to isolate for 10 days (self-release after day 10 if asymptomatic for 72 hours)
• contacts need to quarantine for seven days (test on day five).

At Phase Three

• cases need to isolate for 10 days (self-release after day 10 if asymptomatic for 72 hours)
• contacts need to quarantine for seven days (test if symptomatic).

At all three phases of the Omicron response, critical workers under the Critical Workforce Registration System and health workers will be supported by public health guidance to enable close contacts to work.

We would expect that most practices would be defined as a critical industry, as they require a person with particular skills who:

• is required to undertake their role in person at the workplace; and
• is in a role that must continue to be performed to either prevent an immediate risk of death or serious injury to a person or animal, or prevent serious harm (social, economic or physical) to significant numbers in the community. 

This approach will mean that critical workers who are close contacts will be able to return to work early, provided they return a negative RAT every day that they are at work throughout their required isolation period or as otherwise appropriate to their work setting.

They will only be able to go to work, not anywhere else – this protocol allows for return to work only. It does not mean that it ends isolation periods early. 

Remember that booster vaccinations are now available four months after the second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, although the Government mandate refers to six months, the guidance is to encourage vaccination after 4 months. The importance of vaccination has been widely publicised, especially with the emergence of Omicron.

If you have a vaccination policy, it would be timely to review it, and your initial risk assessment will also need to be revisited.

Have a plan on how you can continue to operate if workers have to self-isolate or get sick

• Many of you will have had experience of separating your staff into teams so that you can continue to work if you have a case or contact.
• Consider which roles could be undertaken from home and how feasible this is
• Discuss with your team how different roles, responsibilities and ways of working might need to change
• Can you call on your casual workers if needed?
• Does more than one person know how to carry out important processes e.g. bank transactions, website updates? Can someone else pick up this work?
• Have you talked with your suppliers about their plans, and will you need to consider more frequent orders to ensure you manage longer lead times for delivery?
• Speak with your bank if you might need assistance if your business cashflow will be severely affected, or suppliers to check if credit terms can be extended.

If you apply for the short-term absence payment or leave support payment for staff who are awaiting test results or isolating due to being close contacts or test positive, all the employment obligations continue and in applying for these payments you are agreeing to the terms in the declaration

• Short term absence - Declaration for the COVID-19 Short-Term Absence Payment - Work and Income
• Leave Support Scheme - Declaration - COVID-19 Leave Support Scheme - Work and Income

We acknowledge that most practices are running on empty, there is constant change, uncertainty and people are tired and many are stressed.

Probably the last thing you want to consider is offering the opportunity for staff who haven’t had a break to take some leave or a long weekend, but this may be something to consider now before the expected influx hits. Or maybe try to plan some non-work activities, even if it’s a morning tea to be enjoyed or encouraging staff to get outside for a walk during their break.