United Kingdom: immediate sick pay for employees told to self-isolate under new coronavirus test and trace system

Under the UK’s new ‘test and trace’ system to combat the spread of coronavirus, any person who has been in contact with someone infected with the virus or someone suspected of being so must immediately go into self-isolation. With this new approach in place, the government has amended its law on sick pay, specifying that from 28 May, employees asked by the test and trace service to isolate themselves will receive Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) – which now amounts to £95.85/week (€106.61) – straight away and for 14 days if necessary. Previously, only people with symptoms of coronavirus, those living with someone who has the virus and people in poor health could receive sick pay during their period of isolation. Human resources experts and trade unions have expressed regret that this change is limited to people entitled to SSP and effectively excludes casual workers, the self-employed, those on zero-hour contracts, and those who do not reach the wage threshold of £118 per week (€131.25). The UK government, which made an emergency legislative change in March to ensure that sick pay is paid from the first day of absence in the case of Covid-19, and not on the fourth day as is usually the case (see article n°11700), considers for its part that it is possible to benefit from the social aid system in these other circumstances.