Sturgeon tells English firms to treat Scottish staff differently

She said that included staff living in Scotland whose normal workplace was just over the border in England.

The Scottish lockdown is tighter than the UK Government version, which was changed this week for England with the “stay at home” message replaced by “stay alert”

The UK version says people in England should work at home where possible, but says “food production, construction, manufacturing, logistics, distribution and scientific research in laboratories” should be open. The Scottish guidance is for construction to be closed.

The UK guidance says it should be "considered alongside local public health and safety requirements for Scotland", but does not say which guidance takes precedence.

However at the Scottish Government’s daily briefing on Covid-19, Ms Sturgeon was clear that the Scottish advice must apply to workers living in Scotland, even if they normally commuted to work in England.

She began by urging employers in Scotland not to reopen prematurely or put pressure on employees to return to work too soon.

She said: “I know that the UK Government published guidance for businesses yesterday. 

“I want to stress that this guidance is not yet operational in Scotland at this stage, since we are not currently encouraging more people to go back to work.

“I would ask instead that all employers follow the Scottish Government guidance. 

“I am very grateful for the fact that the vast majority of employers have been so responsible throughout this crisis – so I am sure that most will do this, and will not urge workers to come back to work prematurely. 

“And for employees, I would remind you that if you think your working conditions are unsafe, you have rights under employment legislation. 

“If you have a trade union in your workplace, and you have concerns about your working conditions, you should also be able to talk to them.

“The Scottish Government is working with employers and trade unions to develop guidance on safe workplaces which has the confidence of businesses and workers.”  

Asked if her message was the same to employers south of the border, for example in and around Carlisle, who had workers currently living in Scotland, Ms Sturgeon replied: “Yes, unequivocally."

She went on: "My message applied to all employers, clearly employing people who work in Scotland, I would hope all employers across the UK would be responsible, but my responsibility of course is for those who live in Scotland.

“So I would say to employers, wherever your head office is, wherever you’re based, if you are employing people who live in Scotland, have regard to the Scottish Government guidance. Indeed, that is what the UK Government would tell you to do as well.

“We are going through a process that will allow us, at the right time and in the right phasing, to give people the confidence that they can go back to work safely.”

Asked about reports that Burger King, McDonald’s and Starbucks were planning to reopen some outlets in Scotland despite the lockdown, Ms Sturgeon said: “Right now, because our progress against this virus is fragile, we must be cautious.

“We must not prematurely lift these restrictions and risk the virus running out of control.

“I make no apology for being cautious about this and I would say to employers of all shapes and sizes, and all sectors, You should be following in Scotland, Scottish Government advice.

“We are not yet encouraging any businesses that are not open right now, or any workers who are not working right now, to be back in operation.

“Of course that will change in the weeks ahead and we want to get back to as close to normal operation for businesses as quickly as possible, but that has to be done safely, and it has to be done in the right order, so we can give workers confidence they are safe as they can be.”