Today (Thursday, 20 January) Siobhan O’Reilly, Director of HR, wrote to all staff. You can view her message below:

Dear all staff,

The Government has announced it is removing Plan B restrictions and returning to Plan A.

For Sussex staff, this means we will be welcoming those of you who have been working from home to return to working on campus in line with our Remote Working Framework.

You are encouraged to speak to your line manager about what this means for you and your team.

Face coverings

Although, the Government no longer mandates the wearing of face coverings, we do expect you to wear face coverings in most public spaces, including in teaching spaces and on public transport, to protect our community.

Testing

If you are coming onto campus you are still encouraged to self-test, then continue to test twice weekly at home.

Self-isolation

There are no changes to the self-isolation guidelines and Individuals who test positive will be able to leave self-isolation after five full days, subject to having two negative lateral flow results 24 hours apart.

The day symptoms begin, or you test positive is day zero. The following day is day one of your isolation period. You can take your first test on day five. If it is negative, you can take another test 24 hours later on day six. Assuming this is also negative - and you do not have a temperature - you can leave isolation immediately.

These rules apply to both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals.

Reporting absence

It is really important that you report any sickness absence because this enables us to make sure you receive the support you may need when returning to work.

Your wellbeing

The physical and mental wellbeing of our Sussex community remains a priority and please use the resources on our wellbeing hub.

Further updates

Please check our Working at Sussex webpages which we will continue to update with changes to our guidance.

With best wishes,

Siobhan O’Reilly
Director of Human Resources