-
NEW POLL: A fifth of
workers forced to self-isolate at home without being able to
work received no sick pay or wages at
all
-
Lack of decent sick pay is
pushing people into debt and undermining test and trace, warns
union body
-
With the virus becoming more
infectious “it’s more important than ever” that people can
afford to self-isolate, says
TUC
The TUC has today (Wednesday) called on
ministers to urgently increase financial support for people who
have to self-isolate to help bring down Britain’s “spiralling”
Covid-19 cases.
New polling by the TUC shows
that a fifth (20%) of workers who have been forced to
self-isolate, but unable to work at home, have received no sick
pay (or wages) at all.
Pushed into
hardship
The poll reveals that many people
will be plunged into hardship if they have to self-isolate on
statutory sick pay in the coming
months.
Two-fifths (40%) of workers say
they would have to go into debt, or go into arrears on their
bills, if their income dropped to £96 a week – the current level
of statutory sick pay
(SSP).
This number rises to nearly half (48%)
for disabled workers.
The UK currently has one of the lowest
rates of sick pay in Europe and nearly two million workers do not
earn enough to qualify for it – most of them
women.
Workers receiving statutory maternity,
paternity, adoption or additional paternity pay are currently not
eligible to receive SSP. The self-employed are also
excluded.
Lack of financial
support
The TUC says the lack of decent sick pay
has had a real impact during the
crisis.
The poll reveals that, for workers forced
to self-isolate but unable to work from
home:
-
1 in 5 (20%) received no sick pay (or
wages) at all
-
A fifth (21%) had to raid their
savings
-
1 in 10 (10%) struggled to cover bills
or had to go into debt.
Low-income workers (1 in 7) were more
likely than middle and higher earners (1 in 12) to have to
self-isolate without being able to work from
home.
Undermining tier
restrictions
The TUC has warned for months that the
lack of decent sick pay has undermined the effectiveness of the
government’s coronavirus restrictions, with workers forced to
choose between following the health advice and paying their
bills.
These concerns were echoed by testing
tsar Dido Harding who admitted
in November that the lack of decent financial support was
deterring people with Covid-19 symptoms from self-isolati n!
g.
The TUC is calling for government
to:
-
Increase the rate of SSP from £95.85 to
real living wage of £320 a week
-
Extend SSP to all workers so nobody
misses out due to not meeting the pay
threshold
-
Introduce a more extensive support
package for household finances, including increasing the local
authority hardship fund and providing support for those
struggling with council tax and
rent
TUC General Secretary Frances
O’Grady said:
“The government must do everything
possible to slow down the spiralling rise in Covid-19
cases.
“With the virus becoming more infectious,
it’s more important than ever that people self-isolate when they
develop symptoms.
“But the lack of decent sick pay is
undermining Britain’s public health effort and is forcing workers
to choose between doing the right thing and being plunged into
hardship.
“Ministers must stop turning a blind eye
to this problem and raise sick pay to at least the real living
wage of £320 a week.
“And they must ensure that everyone has
access to it.”
ENDS
Notes to
editors:
- Polling info:
BritainThinks conducted an online survey of 2,231 in England and
Wales between 19th November – 29thNovember 2020. All respondents
were either in work, on furlough, or recently made redundant.
Survey data has been weighted to be representative of the working
population in England and Wales by age, gender, socioeconomic
grade, working hours and security of work in line with ONS Labour
Force survey data.
