With the government now seeking to impose more serious restrictions on movement and activities as a result of the coronavirus pandemic we thought it would be useful to highlight the key considerations for Vets in the face of this unprecedented situation.
General Advice:
We have some general suggestions on how to deal with the social distancing requirements for client visits given that the industry is one where home-working simply isn’t an option.
- Consider allowing longer times for appointments to allow for less crossover between clients
- Allow clients to wait in their vehicles ahead of appointments and notify them when the vet is ready to see them
- Implement a one pet, one person policy
- Check with your indemnity and vehicle insurers to see whether personal vehicles could be used for mobile routine appointments (ideally with such visits taking place outside or, if they have to be carried out in someone’s home, after a full risk assessment has been made to ensure the home is safe).
- Ensure that hand sanitiser is available at receptions and encourage all clients to use this before and after entering/leaving the premises (we note that hand sanitiser is potentially harmful to our animal friends so clients should be advised accordingly).
Employment issues:
We would strongly recommend (if you haven’t already) that you review your sickness absence policy in light of the outbreak. Unfortunately the veterinary industry isn’t one which is well-suited to home working but you need to consider the position of your employees who have to self-isolate or look after family members or children.
The Prime Minister announced last week that employers should be taking the illness seriously and said those suffering will get statutory sick pay (SSP) from the first day off work. The change, which is being introduced in emergency legislation, is expected to mean an extra £40 for people receiving SSP – which is set at £94.25 a week and paid by employers. Employers with under 250 employees will be able to reclaim 2 weeks statutory sick pay from the government.
The aim of this new legislation regarding payment of statutory sick pay from day one is to ensure people with coronavirus do not feel financial pressure to come into work and risk spreading the disease.
Consider your out-of-hours arrangements in the event that you cannot provide the service due to sickness – is there the opportunity for a co-operative approach with other independent practices in the area? You could even consider the services temporarily of larger out-of-hours providers as a backup.
Finally, make sure you undertake a risk assessment to ascertain if you have any particularly vulnerable employees (those over the age of 70, those with underlying medical conditions or those who are pregnant, for example) and ensure that you take every possible measure to reduce the risk as far as possible in relation to their continued employment. If current duties pose a risk then you may need to consider a temporary reallocation of duties during this period, making sure you take HR/employment advice on doing so.
Property and Rents:
It may be tempting to consider not paying the rent in these difficult circumstances but you should bear the following in mind:
- The majority of leases do not allow the rent to be withheld, regardless of the circumstances and unfortunately any ‘rent suspension’ clause you might see won’t cover closure as a result of a pandemic. Most rent suspension clauses operate where there is damage by an insured (or occasionally uninsured) risk, but the key factor is property damage.
- If your rent is delayed then you will be liable to interest charges and penalties and the Landlord would be able to forfeit (terminate) the lease as a result of the non-payment. Even if the Landlord chooses not to forfeit, the amounts due and all the Landlord’s legal costs associated with the breach will lie at your door.
- It is worthwhile checking your insurance policy to see if the business interruption (“BI”) cover you have may apply. Unless, however you have added on a specific non-property linked BI cover then it is unlikely that your policy will pay out because there is no property damage associated with the loss.
- If you think you may fail to meet your rental payment then let your Landlord know as soon as possible, there may be a way to find some common ground and agree a temporary payment holiday (however emphasis is on the term ‘agree’).
- If you fall into the category of receiving Small Business Rates Relief (or rural rates relief) then you will also benefit from a one-off grant of £10,000 from the government to assist you with your ongoing business costs.
- Be mindful if you have residential accommodation in your property occupied by staff. You may be considered responsible for ensuring that any shared rooms or off duty areas are thoroughly cleansed between staff changes with full facilities for washing hands. You should make sure you keep up to date with the current advice from the government and Public Health England as this will protect you from any employee claims for breach of quiet enjoyment covenants.
Contracts:
You may have a number of supplier or laboratory contracts which you may wish to suspend or cancel during this time. However if you want to be able to suspend or terminate your agreement early you will need to review the contract thoroughly and consider the following:
- A ‘force majeure’ clause is one where due to unforeseen circumstances, one of the parties is prevented from fulfilling their contractual obligations and the contract can come to an end. The clause cannot be implied and must be physically in the document and would also need to refer specifically to epidemics and pandemics. The burden of proof would be on you to prove the clause included the coronavirus outbreak and it must be the only reason for default. This area of law is highly complicated and we recommend each contract is reviewed individually for specific advice. Whether termination under a force majeure clause will be possible is not yet proven and we will await the outcome of court cases in due course.
- The principle of ‘frustration’ is where a party is discharged from their contractual obligations if there is a significant change in their circumstances which makes it physically or commercially impossible to perform the contract, or doing so would render the performance radically different. However this common law doctrine is incredibly narrowly interpreted and very difficult to prove and is unlikely to assist you in this case.
- Do you have any rolling termination or break clauses that could be exercised? Take legal advice on exercising these as notice and service provisions will be strictly interpreted so seek legal advice on any proposed notice.
If you need any specific support and advice during this time then please do give our specialist team a call and we can assist. Our team are fully set up to work from home with access to all the usual systems and precedents.
You can access the government’s business advice page here:
