Today (Thursday, 27 January) Siobhan O’Reilly, Director of HR, wrote to all staff. You can view her message below:

Dear colleague,

Following last week’s Government recommendation that employees will no longer be asked to work from home, I sent out a message to let you know what this would mean for you as an employee at Sussex and what measures we are taking to protect our community.

Update on face coverings

While the Government has made it clear that from today (27 January) there is no mandate to wear face coverings, we want to do what we can to make staff feel as reassured as possible. We had initially said we ‘encourage’ the wearing of face coverings in public spaces on campus.

Since then, we’ve listened to feedback from members of staff as well as campus trade unions and are now letting our community know – including students – that they are expected to wear face coverings in busy public spaces on campus, including in teaching spaces and on public transport. To support this approach Schools will have face masks available for those people who have forgotten them.

Face coverings are just one of the measures we can take to minimise infection rates. However, the evidence shows that even more effective is regular testing, vaccination and good personal hygiene.

Testing and supply of lateral flow testing kits

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

Testing kits will be available to collect on campus to ensure there is adequate provision these can be collected on campus from the locations marked with a cross on this map.

Vaccines

Vaccines give you the best protection against COVID-19.

See guidance on vaccinations – including arrangements for vaccine appointments and sickness absence.

The University strongly encourages employees to take part in the vaccination programme against Covid-19, in line with government guidance.

If you use the walk-in vaccination sessions which are taking place in the local area, including booster clinics. See the Keep Sussex Safe pages for more information.

Sharing your vaccination status

You are able to update your vaccination status on the MyView portal which is helpful for the University to know the protection levels our staff have against the virus. This will help us to refine our business continuity plans. It is your choice whether you supply this information, and you can update or remove this data at any time.

Returning to work on campus

I expect most of you will have begun conversations with your line manager about arrangements for return to working on campus if you have not already returned.

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.

Your wellbeing

We are aware you may need additional support at this time, and the physical and mental wellbeing of our Sussex community remains a priority. Please use the resources on our wellbeing hub.

Keeping you updated

Please check our Working at Sussex webpages which we will continue to update with changes to our guidance and please speak to you line manager if you have any concerns.

With best wishes,

Siobhan O’Reilly
Director of Human Resources