In this article Julie Robinson, partner at Roythornes Solicitors and previously chief legal adviser at the National Farmers’ Union in the UK, considers some of the issues facing farmers and grower employers in the light of the developing coronavirus crisis.
Farms are not professional services firms where remote working may be an alternative to being physically present on site, Julie writes. “Remote working does not get millions of daffodils picked, lambs delivered safely or the harvester moved from one field to the next. Farm managers need to be on hand, not at home or stranded in a hotel in lockdown.”
That brings its own set of challenges during a period where self-isolation is the Government’s policy for dealing with a highly contagious virus, and where lockdowns are imposed at short notice across the globe, preventing people from travelling freely to their place of work.
Read the Q&A on the Roythornes website in which Julie describes some scenarios and gives some pointers about how to deal with them.
