The government’s flagship test-and-trace system will fail unless ministers agree to pay the wages of those who are forced to isolate for two weeks, unions and regional mayors have warned. Millions of low-paid workers either do not qualify for the statutory sick pay of £95.85 a week or cannot afford to live on the allowance, leaving them unable to pay the bills if they have to quarantine due to coronavirus. The Trades Union Congress (TUC) and unions including Unison, GMB, Usdaw, Unite and CWU on Monday joined calls for the government to step in, with regional mayors warning that the test-and-trace scheme would collapse without the financial support. The TUC general secretary, Frances O’Grady, said: “We all want test and trace to work. But it’s not viable to ask workers to self-isolate if that means they are plunged into financial hardship. Until ministers fix this problem, people will continue to struggle to follow official advice. “Wherever possible, employers should do the right thing and pay workers their full pay. But the government must also ensure that every worker gets financial support. Too many – including the 2 million who currently don’t qualify for sick pay, or the 7 million only getting SSP – will not be able to afford to isolate.”
In Germany, people who have to quarantine are paid their regular wage for seven weeks. Thereafter they get 70% of their salary in sickness pay. In China, people asked to self-isolate at home for two weeks have all their rent, food and bills covered by the government. Launching a campaign called Time Out to Help Out, the Greater Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham, said employees forced to self-isolate should be paid their full normal wage, which employers would then claim back from government. He has called for jury duty-style payments to anyone asked to isolate. Burnham said: “NHS Test and Trace will never work properly until all employees are supported to follow its requests. It’s right that everybody plays their part in helping to get Covid-19 under control. But what’s not right is forcing some of our workers – many doing the lowest paid jobs or self-employed – to make a choice between self-isolating or face a drastic loss of income.” Steve Rotheram, the metro mayor of the Liverpool city region, said: “We cannot beat this virus by asking people to choose between putting food on the table or keeping their communities safe.”