Dear Client
We are reaching out to you on foot of the updated public health advice from Government advising the public of increased restrictions on movement owing to Covid19.
The purpose of these increased restrictions is to save lives and employers and employees should follow this advice.
On Friday night, An Taoiseach said:
With effect from midnight tonight, for a two-week period until Easter Sunday, April 12th everybody must stay at home in all circumstances, except for the following situations:
To travel to and from work, or for purposes of work, only where the work is an essential health, social care or other essential service and cannot be done from home. A list will be provided.
The Government have now compiled a list of essential services which is available here. You should refer to this guidance to decide whether your organisation is providing an essential service - it is not necessary to seek official authorisation.
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If you are an essential service – your employees that need to travel will need to have a work ID/letter from their employer/some form of identification stating that they are employed within your firm. A template of this letter is available to view below this letter.
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If have any queries or you believe that you require further advice, please get in touch with your IDA account manager.
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If you are not engaged in the provision of essential services, then you and your employees are not permitted to travel to and from work until April 12th 2020.
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There will be a grace period until 6pm on Monday March 30th for people who need to make necessary arrangements to wind down their activities in an orderly way. This should however be done in a way that minimises travel and personal interaction as much as possible.
IDA Ireland and our account managers are also here to assist you in accessing Government schemes that have been developed in recent weeks. More information is available here.
We would encourage all firms to undertake as much work as possible remotely. Where this is not possible and your firm is designated as an essential service, please ensure that every precaution in line with public health guidelines is undertaken.
Once again, I want to pay tribute to all employees that continue to work to produce critical goods and deliver services that we require for us all to continue to operate in these times.
Yours sincerely
Martin Shanahan
Sample Employer Letter
ESSENTIAL SERVICES – COVID19
To whom it may concern,
This is to certify that [EMPLOYER NAME HERE] of [COMPANY ADDRESS HERE] is a [TYPE OF INDUSTRY HERE], which is an essential service and covered by the Irish Government advice of 28th March.
[FULL EMPLOYEE NAME AND ADDRESS HERE]
This letter has been issued by the Human Resources Department of [EMPLOYER NAME HERE] to this individual [EMPLOYEE NAME & ROLE] to verify that they currently work for (or are contracted to work for) [EMPLOYER NAME HERE] and have been identified as a person performing on-site activities that are essential to the continuation of work in this company.
This letter is valid for the duration of the Government advice until April 12th, or until such a point as the Government stands down current restrictions.
To verify this document, please contact: [HR MANAGER + NUMBER]
Regards,
[EMPLOYER NAME HERE]
[SIGNATURE + DATE]
GUIDANCE TO EMPLOYEE:
Please take this letter with you as you travel to and from work. It will assure the authorities that you are playing a vital role in this time of crisis.
Thank you sincerely for all that you are doing for our company but more importantly, the vital role you are playing for Ireland.
Stay safe and please follow all of the important health and safety protocols advised by the HSE.