LONDON – On Wednesday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his intention to cut down the number of days that a worker has to wait to qualify for the state minimum sick pay in cases where they isolate themselves due to the coronavirus.
In parliament, Johnson stated that emergency coronavirus legislation will have measures to permit the payment of statutory sick leave from the first absent day instead of the current rule of four days.
Johnson believes that this is the right way forward as nobody should be penalised for doing what’s right.
The government was put under the spotlight and put under pressure to alter the rules surrounding statutory sick pay after stating that people must self-isolate for 2 weeks if they come in contact with anyone confirmed of having the coronavirus.
According to the Trades Union Congress’ umbrella group, this change is indicative of progress but under the rules currently in place, low-earners whose pay doesn’t meet the sick pay threshold would still head out to work if ill, putting their colleagues and clients at risk.
Hence, they called on the government to raise the weekly sick pay level from the current 94.25 pounds a week, the lowest among European countries.
This change will reassure workers of not losing income if they have to self-isolate.
Sick pay should be extended to cover the five-million self-employed workers and two-million low-paid employees in the UK who do not qualify at this point of time, says Laura Gardiner, research director at the Resolution Foundation think-tank. A pandemic must not be what urges this action to be taken.
The UK is host to 3.7 million insecure workers- self-employed, working zero-hour contracts or doing agency, casual or seasonal work.
A fifth of UK’s total workforce may have to skip work, according to projections, during the peak of the coronavirus pandemic.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field.