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Waste management companies have joined the list of critical services which are now exempt from self-isolation if members of staff are pinged by the Covid-19 app. The Department of Health and Social Care announced that “Where employers believe the self-isolation of certain key employees as contacts would result in serious disruption to critical services, they should contact the relevant government department.”

Any waste management companies who experience employees being pinged must
apply to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and provide the number of employees and job titles of those they would like to have released from self-isolation, and outline the impact that enforced self-isolation would have on the business.

To apply, send the aforementioned information to emergencies@defra.gov.uk.

Any requests are then reviewed by the Government and “Where a specific case meets the criteria, the employer will receive a letter from the relevant department setting out the named critical workers designated and telling them what measures they and those workers need to follow. Unless employers have a letter from a government department on which the workers are specifically named, this policy does not apply and employees should self-isolate as directed.”