Concerns over the lack of support for people who need to take time off work to self-isolate but are unable to claim statutory sick pay have been raised by the head of the ‘test and trace' programme.
Dido Harding, who was appointed by the Government to lead efforts to identify and isolate those with COVID-19 and their close contacts, said self-isolating was ‘particularly challenging' for those in the lowest-paid roles and the self-employed.
The 1.6m people in England earning less than £120 a week are unable to claim statutory sick pay, raising fears that they will go to work and spread the virus rather than miss being paid.
Speaking at a webinar organised by the CBI, the employers group, and reported in the FT, she said: ‘I would be lying if I said I was not worried about that – I am worried about that.'
‘It's particularly challenging for that workforce…. I continue to make the case that we need to think about how we support people in those lowest paid roles and the self-employed.'
Any decision on financial support for these groups of workers would be above her ‘pay grade', Baroness Harding added. She urged employers not to ‘demonise' those who became ill with COVID-19.
In a policy backed by the Labour party nationally, the mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has been calling on the Government to pay workers not eligible for sick pay to stay at home.
Writing for The MJ in early June, director of public health and wellbeing at Blackburn with Darwen Council Dominic Harrison said that as the 'test, trace and isolate' system developed, gig economy workers who may have to suddenly self-isolate if they are a contact of a confirmed case ‘will have to forgo two weeks' income just to comply with self-isolation requests'.
There was ‘no furlough payment at the moment for self-isolation', he added. This would in his view increase the risk of non-compliance in those in the most precarious employment, and ‘risks a wider societal "long tail of the pandemic"'.
Blackburn with Darwen Council has kept its special measures in force to combat the COVID-19 spike in the borough after a review at the weekend.
