CORONAVIRUS What are my employment rights?

Employment lawyers have advised me that if you are advised by the NHS 111 service, or indeed your GP, to self- isolate, you will be “deemed to be incapable for work” and therefore entitled to SSP.

I should add that this is still a bit of a grey area. You will need to provide your employer with evidence of the advice to self- isolate.

My understanding is that if you call NHS 111 and they advise you to do this, you can ask them to email confirmation of the advice.

If your employer tells you to stay at home, it is likely you will be entitled to your normal pay, especially if you are instructed to work from home.

If your employer closes your workplace, you will be entitled to full pay during the period of closure. However, your employer will be

SCAM OF THE WEEK

entitled to ask you to work home during this period.

No, unless there is a contractual right for your employer to do this. You should check your employment contract ( or statement of terms if you have no contract) and staff handbook ( if your employer has one).

You can try but your employer will have good grounds to force you to self- isolate as it has obligations under health and safety laws to safeguard other employees and customers. In this respect, if you refuse you may find yourself suspended.

In this situation, you will be entitled to parental leave. However, you will not be entitled to be paid.

LOTS OF people have purchased coronavirus masks online from fraudsters who took their money and then failed to deliver. It can be difficult to decipher if an advert is genuine or a scam. I would therefore advise that you only buy from websites you are familiar with. Alternatively, do some research on the seller by putting the website/ traders name in a search engine. You should also use your credit card for the purchase so that you have the protection of section 75 if something goes wrong or you are scammed. from

For more advice, see www. theconsumerlawyer. blog and @ deandunham