Wales promises full pay to self-isolating careworkers
Care workers in England will still only receive £95 per week when they are forced to stay home from work.
The Welsh Assembly has confirmed that care workers forced to self-isolate will receive their full pay, significantly more than the Statutory Sick Pay offered to professionals in England.
Welsh Health Minister, Vaughn Gethin, made the announcement last week (25 August 2020), prompting GMB Union to urge Westminster to follow suit.
Care workers in England who become ill due to the Coronavirus or are forced to self-isolate because they have been in contact with an infected person receive just £95 per week on Statutory Sick Pay.
Kelly Andrews, GMB Social Care Lead, said: “It is only right the social care workforce should receive full pay – rather than the completely inadequate Statutory Sick pay – when they are unable to attend work.
“Many carers are part time, low paid and just can’t afford to take time off if all they get is £95 a week.”
“That means care workers are faced with the terrible choice between coming into work when they should be isolating – putting residents and colleagues at risk – or not being able to keep a roof over their families’ heads.
“It’s a deadly and completely unnecessary situation for them to be put in.”
Wales’ policy currently only applies to sickness or isolation due to Covid-19, but GMB vowed to lobby for a wider and more long-term change to care workers’ terms and conditions.