HSE Contact Tracing App: What employers need to know

The HSE’s new COVID-19 Contact Tracing App became available on July 6th. Since then, over one million people in Ireland have downloaded it.

While the app aims to stop the spread of COVID-19, it may also impact employers in several ways.

What does the app do, and why should I care?

Well, firstly the app has been developed to identify when one person comes into ‘close contact’ with another. This is based on Bluetooth ‘handshakes’ between their devices. A handshake occurs when one person is within two metres of another person for more than 15 minutes.

If someone tests positive for COVID-19 and confirms their diagnosis on the app, the app will notify all recent close contacts of the infected person.

Under HSE advice, all close contacts are then required to stay home for fourteen days, even if they display no symptoms.

So, what’s my role?

The Government has called on employers to encourage staff to follow the rules and support them in staying away from work if they need to isolate. Given that the app will help facilitate social distancing, encouraging staff to use it is something that you should consider. After all, doing so will help safeguard your workplace.

If you ask staff to use the app, you need to review your IT policies as you may have policies in place that prevent the download of external applications onto company devices.

Another possible consequence of the app is that the more identified close contacts, the more employees will need to take two weeks off work with limited notice. It’s vital therefore that you’re aware of what to do should this situation arise.

Essential information

You may or may not know this, but there’s no legal obligation for you to pay employees who are absent through illness. This includes any employees advised to self-isolate.

Some employers provide a contractual right to paid sick leave. However, it’s usually capped for a maximum period and reduced by the amount of any Illness Benefit the employee is entitled to claim from the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection.

Who’s entitled to COVID-19 Illness Benefit?

Employees advised to self-isolate by the HSE are also entitled to apply for the COVID-19 Illness Benefit. If you don’t provide a contractual right to paid sick leave, employees who are notified that they’re close contacts and required to self-isolate may be entitled to rely on the statutory COVID-19 Illness Benefit. The Benefit is now paid at €350 per week and for a maximum of two weeks where a person is self-isolating.

To receive the COVID-19 Illness Benefit, close contact employees must:

  • Be suspected of having COVID-19 and advised by a doctor or the HSE to self-isolate.
  • Have confirmation of the direction from the HSE either in text or letter format.
  • Have been in paid employment for four weeks prior to making the claim.

As the Government accepts that not everyone contacted will display symptoms, you could consider asking these employees to work from home on full pay during their period of self-isolation.

If this is unfeasible, or they do become unwell, they’ll need to be paid under your sick pay policy or directed to apply for the COVID-19 Illness Benefit for the duration of their two-week self-isolation.

Need our help?

If you would like further complimentary advice on the COVID-19 App from an expert, our advisors are ready to take your call. Call us on 01 886 0350 or request a callback here.

Book a call with a consultant

Complete the form below and a consultant will call you as soon as possible.

Book a call with a consultant

Complete the form below and a consultant will call you as soon as possible.

Latest Resources

St Patrick’s Day: Have you prepared for absenteeism?

Published: March 20th 2024 Following national celebrations and public holidays like St Patrick’s day, you could find yourself down several staff members. And – as […]

What Employees Are Entitled to a Public Holiday Benefit & How Are Benefits Calculated?

public holiday
Published: March 20th 2024 From Easter Monday to St Patrick’s Day, Ireland gets ten public holidays and, with them, public holiday benefits. But what if […]

What happens when workplace romances go wrong

workplace romances gone wrong
First published: February 14th 2024 Last updated: February 14th 2024 Love makes the world go round, or so they say. But what effect does love […]

Olga Shevchenko

Director/Advocate, Immigration Advice Bureau

Olga Shevchenko specialises in immigration advocacy and consultancy, in particular, employment permit, visas, family reunification, citizenship, etc, for those seeking to visit, reside or invest in Ireland.

Olga provides extensive information, knowledge, and support to her clients, enabling access to positive solutions for people struggling to handle the immigration law.

Minister Neale Richmond

Minister of State, Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment

Neale Richmond TD was appointed as Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment with special responsibility for Employment Affairs and Retail Business and the Department of Social Protection in January 2023.

Much of his work at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is with businesses, workers, their representative bodies and the State Agencies to ensure that the economic recovery and growth extends to all parts of the country. He works closely with the SME sector, including retail, on building resilience and on the transition to the green and digital economies.

Mark Carpenter

Director of Regulatory & Corporate Affairs, Sky

Mark Carpenter is Director of Regulatory & Corporate Affairs at Sky Ireland. In this role he has responsibility for External and Internal Communications, Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs and the company’s ‘Bigger Picture’ (CSR) programme. He also works closely with Sky Group teams on a variety of matters, in particular our partnerships with domestic broadcasters.

Prior to working at Sky, Mark worked as a Policy Officer in Houses of the Oireachtas and as a Management Consultant at Accenture. He has a BA in History from Oxford University and a PhD in Political Science from Trinity College Dublin.

Nora Cashe

Litigation and Compliance Manager, Peninsula

Nóra studied Law in Griffith College Dublin and qualified as a Barrister in 2008, practising in the area of Criminal law. She is also member of the Irish Employment Law Association.

Nora has extensive experience representing clients at Employment Tribunal hearings, Conciliation / Mediation meetings before both the Workplace Relations Commission and the Labour Court. 

Nóra is a member of the Irish Employment Law Association and engages with the WRC Adjudication Service as part of their stakeholder engagement forum.

Deiric McCann

Managing Director, Genos International Europe

Deiric McCann leads Genos International Europe – The EU division of a world-leading provider of emotional intelligence solutions. 

With over two decades experience at the highest levels of management, Deiric supports clients to develop the resilience, emotional intelligence, psychological safety and engagements of their employees.

Rhiannon Coyne

Senior HR Consultant, Graphite HRM

Rhiannon Coyne is a Senior HR Consultant at Graphite HRM and will be providing an overview of best practice on how to deal with complaints of bullying and harassment in the workplace. 

With a number of recent updates to employment laws, Rhiannon will take a closer look at employment equality and how it is interlinked to Health & Safety and what employers can learn from recent case laws.

David Begg

Chairman, Workplace Relations Commission

David Begg was appointed Chairperson of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) in January 2021.

David is also a professor at Maynooth University Institute of Social Sciences. Mr Begg’s extensive history in the trade union movement included leading the ESB Officers Association and Irish Congress of Trade Unions, stepping away from the latter in 2001 to chair international aid agency Concern.

David Begg was also previously a director of the Central Bank of Ireland between 1995 and 2010.