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28 May, 2020 Open access

COVID-19 ‘Test and Trace’ programme will not be effective unless statutory sick pay is extended to all and increased to level of real Living Wage, says TUC

Warning that workers who cannot afford to self-isolate will be forced to keep working, TUC also calls for extension of support for self-employed

The coronavirus (COVID-19) 'Test and Trace' programme will not be effective unless statutory sick pay is extended to all and increased to the level of the real Living Wage, the TUC has warned.

Following the launch of the Test and Trace programme in England yesterday - which requires those who are contacted by the programme because they have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 to self-isolate for 14 days - the TUC has cautioned that it will not be effective if workers are pushed into hardship as a result.

Highlighting the TUC report, 'Testing and tracing for COVID-19 - How to ensure fair access and manage monitoring in the workplace', General Secretary Frances O'Grady said today - 

'Statutory sick pay is just £95 per week – and two million workers aren’t even eligible for that. 

If workers can’t afford to self-isolate, then they will be forced to keep working. That will put them, their workmates and their local community at risk, and undermine the entire test and trace programme. 

The government must extend statutory sick pay to everyone - no matter what they’re paid - and raise it to the level of the real Living Wage, £260 per week. And the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme must remain in place as a source of financial support for those forced to self-isolate. That’s how to show that we really are all in this together.'

For more information see Workers need financial support to quarantine for testing and tracing to work, says TUC from tuc.org.uk