Make the immediate safety and well-being of your people here and overseas a priority and invest as needed to ensure a safe and healthy working environment. Enable employees to work from home where this is possible. Check in with your overseas and interstate business partners and see how they are doing and how you might be able to support them during this time.
If travel is necessary, make sure you check the most recent DFAT advice via Smart Traveller
Providing a simple definition of an essential service during COVID-19 is not straightforward – there are inconsistencies across different jurisdictions and countries depending on the stage of lockdown.
During our community response to COVID-19 essential services will continue.
Businesses will likely need to put in place alternative ways of working to keep employees safe, including shift-based working, staggered meal breaks, flexible leave arrangements and physical distancing.
Yes, if a business is required to close, penalties apply for continuing to run that business.
For businesses that have been directed to close, South Australia Police have undertaken a major education focus to assist businesses fully comprehend what the restrictions really mean for them and their staff.
There isn’t an application process for your business to become an ‘essential service’.
The National Cabinet which consists of all Commonwealth, State and Territory leaders has overarching responsibility for developing the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the implementation of restrictions designed to limit the spread of the Coronavirus.
For information about current restrictions and directions to businesses in South Australia, visit www.sa.gov.au/covid-19.