Sick pay warning over people asked to self-isolate

THE GOVERNMENT must not force people to choose between public health and paying their bills when they are asked to comply with instructions to self-isolate, Labour has said.

Shadow work and pensions secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the Government must plug the gaps in statutory sick pay provision so both people and businesses are supported if an employee is asked to isolate under the new NHS Test and Trace system.

If they do not, he warned, “people will be expected to make an impossible choice between selfisolating or putting food on the table”. He was speaking as Labour unveiled a three-point plan to get test and trace working locally as it described the Government’s current scheme as “total chaos”.

The fact that businesses with more than 250 employees cannot claim back statutory sick pay (SSP) from the HMRC when employees have been told to selfisolate “risks placing further financial stress” on larger firms, Labour said.

As the self-employed and lowpaid do not qualify for sick pay at all, while those who do get it receive one of the lowest rates in Europe, the party is calling on the Government to urgently ensure people have what they need to meet basic living standards.

Mr Reynolds said: “The Covid-19 crisis has exposed that our social security system is a safety net with too many holes in. The eligibility criteria for SSP has the same gaps, and if they are not filled, a cohort of people will be expected to make an impossible choice between self-isolating or putting food on the table.

“The Government must consider how emergency support can be made available for people in this situation, or otherwise risk pushing those who do comply but cannot work as a result into further hardship.”