CORONAVIRUS QUARANTINE: ARE YOU ENTITLED TO SICK PAY?

Whole families could be stuck in quarantine unable to work and with no sick pay as a result of stringent rules on people returning from virus-hit areas.

Lawyers have warned that employees may have no legal rights to pay if they show no symptoms but are forced to take time off work on the instructions of health authorities.

People returning from Iran and parts of northern Italy, China and South Korea are being told to self-quarantine for 14 days even if they display no symptoms. Those who have been in contact with people infected with the coronavirus may also have to self-isolate. This could lead to a situation where entire families are in lockdown, with no breadwinner to go to work, said Michael Legge, an employment lawyer at JMW Solicitors.

“Employees are only entitled to sick pay if they are actually showing signs of illness. If they are staying at home because they’ve been told they might be an infection risk, their employer isn’t obliged to pay them,” Mr Legge said.

However, he added that most firms are likely to take into account the exceptional circumstances and offer quarantined employees sick pay regardless of any symptoms.

“Alternatively they might ask employees to work from home instead,” he said.

Statutory sick pay is £94.25 per week paid for up to 28 weeks. However, some employers will pay workers their full salary during periods of illness.

Lydia Watt, 23, who works in PR, is in quarantine after returning from a holiday to Singapore and Malaysia. Neither she, her mother nor her father have been able to go to work.

“I’m lucky, I have been able to work from home, as has my dad, a finance director.

I don’t know what we’d have done otherwise,” Ms Watt said.

She added that her mother, who runs her own business, has been told by her clients that none wants to see her.

The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service has guidelines on your rights. would normally be covered by the government of the country you are in.

Whether or not holidaymakers would be compensated for the costs incurred by having to remain abroad under quarantine would depend on their policy.

Malcolm Tarling of the Association of British Insurers, a trade body, said: “You would have to have bought a policy that covers you for travel disruption. This isn’t generally sold as an add-on, so you should check the policy yourself before purchasing to make sure you’re covered.”

BOOKING A HOLIDAY

Many airlines and travel providers are still advertising holidays to infected areas. The H10 Costa Adeje Palace appears on a number of booking sites, with no warnings as to the coronavirus lockdown. Rooms are available from March 16 – six days after the coronavirus lockdown is due to end.

People should make sure to research their chosen destination before they book, as disinclination to travel will not generally be accepted by an insurer’s cancellation policy.