Covid-19 (Workplace Restrictions) (Jersey) Regulations 2020
Made 19th May 2020
Coming into
force 20th May 2020
THE STATES make these Regulations under Article 2
of the Covid‑19 (Enabling Provisions) (Jersey) Law 2020[1] –
1 Interpretation
(1) In
these Regulations –
“enforcement officer” has the
meaning assigned by Regulation 4(1);
“Health and Safety Law” means the Health and Safety at Work (Jersey)
Law 1989[2];
“Medical Officer of Health” means a person appointed as such under Article 10
of the Loi (1934) sur la Santé Publique[3];
“Minister” means the Minister for Health and Social Services;
“open” in relation to a workplace means open to access by any person
for the purpose of the person’s work;
“publish” means publish online or in any other manner appearing to
the person publishing to be likely to bring the matter published to the
attention of those whom it concerns;
“relevant guidance” means –
(a) any guidance published
for the purpose of these Regulations, by the Minister or by the Medical Officer
of Health;
(b) any relevant code of
practice approved under Article 10 of the Health and Safety Law; and
(c) any standards produced by
any other person or body that is endorsed by the Minister.
“restriction Order” means an Order made under Regulation 2;
“restriction period” means a period specified under Regulation 2(4);
“specified” means specified in a restriction Order;
“workplace” means the part of a building, place, vehicle, vessel or
aircraft in which a person carries out work within the meaning of Article 1(2)
of the Health and Safety Law other than –
(a) construction work within
the meaning of the Health and Safety (Management in Construction) (Jersey)
Regulations 2016[4]; or
(b) work undertaken in a
private dwelling, vehicle or vessel by one person alone (with no physical
contact with any other person other than a member of the person’s household).
(2) Nothing in these Regulations is to be read
as derogating from any provision of or under the Health and Safety Law.
(3) A power to publish any guidance includes
the power to vary or revoke the guidance.
2 Period of restricted opening
of workplaces
(1) The Minister may make a restriction Order if
the Minister, after consulting the Medical Officer of Health, is satisfied
that, in relation to workplaces, the risk or potential risk to public health
caused by Covid-19 is such that it is proportionate and necessary to do so.
(2) The Minister must, before making a
restriction Order, consult the Minister for Economic Development, Tourism,
Sport and Culture and, if reasonably practicable, the Health and Social
Security Scrutiny Panel.
(3) A restriction Order may contain any of the
provisions set out in Regulation 3.
(4) The Order must specify a restriction period
during which the Order applies by declaring that the period starts on a
specified date, being no sooner than the coming into force of the Order, and
ends at the end of a specified day, being no later than 14 days after the
start of the period.
(5) Despite Article 17 of the
Interpretation (Jersey) Law 1954[5], a provision specifying the
end of a period under paragraph (4)(b) may not be amended other
than –
(a) to declare an earlier
end; or
(b) to declare a later end,
being no later than 14 days after the commencement of each Order making
such an amendment.
3 Provisions that may be
included in restriction Order
(1) A restriction Order may include provision
to –
(a) prohibit all workplaces
from being open;
(b) prohibit all workplaces
from being open other than –
(i) specified workplaces or
a specified class of workplace,
(ii) specified workplaces or
a specified class of workplace complying with any relevant guidance,
(iii) specified workplaces or a
specified class of workplace complying with any other specified condition; or
(c) prohibit only specified workplaces
or only a specified class of workplace from being open or being open only for,
or except for, specified purposes.
(2) Workplaces, or a class of workplace, may be
specified for the purpose of paragraph (1)(b) or (1)(c) by reference to
any or any combination of the following factors –
(a) any description of
workplace;
(b) physical, structural,
spatial or other characteristics of workplaces;
(c) the location of the
workplace;
(d) the numbers of people in
the workplace;
(e) the characteristics of
any person who may enter the workplace;
(f) the hours of operation
of the workplace;
(g) the types of work carried
on at the workplace.
(3) A restriction Order may specify the
conditions that a workplace must meet in order to be open based on –
(a) any of the factors
mentioned in paragraph (2)(b) to (g); and
(b) any other factor that the
Minister considers necessary in the interests of public health.
(4) Nothing in this Regulation limits the
application of Article 11(4) of the Interpretation (Jersey) Law 1954[6].
4 Enforcement
(1) The following are enforcement officers for
the purpose of these Regulations –
(a) a police officer;
(b) an inspector within the
meaning of Article 12 of the Health and Safety Law;
(c) a health officer within
the meaning of Regulation 1(1) of the Covid‑19 (Screening,
Assessment and Isolation) (Jersey) Regulations 2020[7].
(2) An enforcement officer may, for the purpose
of ensuring compliance with a restriction Order and subject to the production
by the person, if so required, of evidence of the person’s authority, exercise
the powers set out in paragraph (3).
(3) The powers are –
(a) at any reasonable time to
enter any workplace which the enforcement officer has reason to believe is open
in contravention of a restriction Order or otherwise failing to comply with
such an Order; and
(b) to make such examination
and investigation as may in any circumstances be necessary for the purpose
mentioned in paragraph (2).
(4) Nothing in this Regulation allows an
enforcement officer to make an examination or investigation or to disclose or
make use of any information received in the course of such examination or
investigation other than for the purposes of these Regulations or a restriction
Order.
5 Offences
(1) A person who is an occupier or operator
commits an offence, and is liable to a fine, if the person contravenes a
restriction Order by –
(a) opening a workplace that
is prohibited from opening;
(b) opening a workplace other
than for purposes for which is it permitted to be open;
(c) failing to take
reasonable steps to prevent any person from entering a workplace that is
prohibited from being open; or
(d) failing to take
reasonable steps to comply with a specified condition.
(2) In this Regulation “occupier” in relation
to the workplace means –
(a) a person who is entitled
to occupy the workplace or part of the workplace to the exclusion of the owner;
or
(b) if there is no such
person, the owner of the workplace or part of the workplace.
(3) A person assessing whether a step is
reasonable, for the purpose of paragraph (1)(c) or (d), must have regard
to any relevant guidance.
(4) It is a defence for an occupier or operator
to prove that he or she took reasonable steps to avoid the commission of an
offence under this Regulation or that the offence was due to an act or default
of some other person who committed it without the occupier or operator’s
consent, connivance or wilful default.
6 Offences by bodies corporate and others
(1) In this Regulation –
“relevant offence” means an offence under these Regulations that is
committed by a limited liability partnership, a separate limited partnership,
an incorporated limited partnership or another body corporate;
“relevant person” means –
(a) if the relevant offence
is committed by a limited liability partnership, a partner of the partnership;
(b) if the relevant offence
is committed by a separate limited partnership or an incorporated limited
partnership –
(i) a general partner, or
(ii) a limited partner who is
participating in the management of the partnership;
(c) if the relevant offence
is committed by a body corporate other than an incorporated limited
partnership –
(i) a director, manager,
secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate, and
(ii) if the affairs of the
body corporate are managed by its members, a member who is acting in connection
with the member’s functions of management; and
(d) a person purporting to
act in any capacity described in sub-paragraphs (a) to (c) in relation to
the partnership or body that commits the relevant offence.
(2) If a relevant offence is proved to have
been committed with the consent or connivance of a relevant person, that
relevant person is also guilty of the offence and liable in the same manner as
the partnership or body corporate to the penalty provided for that offence.
(3) Paragraph (4) applies if a relevant
offence –
(a) is an offence that may be
committed by neglect; and
(b) is proved to be
attributable to any neglect on the part of a relevant person.
(4) The relevant person is also guilty of the
offence and liable in the same manner as the partnership or body corporate to
the penalty provided for that offence.
7 Limitation of liability
(1) The Minister and any enforcement officer are
not liable in damages for anything done or omitted in the discharge or purported
discharge of any function under, or authorised by or under, these Regulations
unless it is shown that the act or omission was in bad faith.
(2) Paragraph (1) does not apply to
prevent an award of damages made in respect of an act on the ground that the
act was unlawful as a result of Article 7(1) of the Human Rights (Jersey) Law 2000[8].
8 Repeal
The Covid-19 (Restricted Trading) (Jersey)
Regulations 2020[9] are repealed on the coming into
force of the first restriction Order.
9 Citation, commencement and expiry
(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Covid-19 (Workplace Restrictions) (Jersey) Regulations 2020
and come into force on the day after they are made.
(2) These Regulations expire on 30th September
2020.
dr. m. egan
Greffier of the States