Employers need to implement formalised working-from-home (WFH) policies and procedures to enable workers to gain the associated health benefits of WFH and disengage from work after hours, new Australian research has shown.
A study of more than a million workers has identified an increased risk of neurological disease in those from a major sector. In another study on asthma and other lung diseases, researchers have called for the respiratory risks posed by cleaning agents to be included in COVID-19 work guidelines.
A major employer is using workplace contact tracing technology to future-proof against further COVID-19 outbreaks and the harm they could have on the business and the health and safety of employees, its general manager of people and culture says.
The Fair Work Commission has ordered an employer to pay workers who refused to work after colleagues tested positive to COVID-19, but said they should have returned to work after the NSW Chief Health Officer became involved and gave them the all clear.
The COVID-19 pandemic and remote working arrangements are exacerbating the significant health and safety risks posed by sickness presenteeism, but they also provide an opportunity to establish cultural norms that encourage workers to take sick leave when they have infectious diseases or other illnesses, organisational psychologists say.
An employer imposed "unattainable" medical-clearance requirements on a worker with symptoms of COVID-19, a commission has found in awarding her four months' remuneration.
