Will employer pay for Coronavirus self-isolation?

ReadingTim

tickledpinx said:

You do what you need to do to make rent and put food on the table. It's all well and good for the government to say that you should self-isolate, they don't need to know about your financial circumstances.

In your place I would do the same. With a zero hour contract you can hardly afford to take the risk of being blacklisted temporarily.

A slightly less hysterical summary can be found here - IF you've been to certain places AND are experiencing certain symptoms then seek help.  It currently has a mortality rate of 2% - or in other words, 98% of the people who get it survive, and the ones who die from it are probably on their way out anyway... 

EmmaGC

It's not a big deal. Just go in to work as normal. Don't risk being taking off shifts by informing your manager.

Try not to mention that you have been overseas. If it's too late for that, just pick a spot that isn't in the news. People are just getting overly panicked over something that has the same mortality rate as a strong winter flu. 

nicechap

cheshirescat said:

Hi, I have just returned from holidaying overseas. At immigration the officer handed me a Coronavirus leaflet which advised me to "self-isolate" for the next 14 days. I asked him if it was required and he said it's an advisory from the government, whatever that is supposed to mean.

I feel absolutely fine and my employer doesn't pay for sick days so I can't really afford to stay at home. I am wary of talking to my employer about this as I'm on a zero-hour contract and my job isn't one that I can do from home. The manager might just stop giving me any hours for a few weeks, which would be a catastrophe.

Any ideas on what I should do?   

I believe you can be infectious before symptoms show.
If you're an employee you're entitled to Statutory Sick Pay as a minimum but you may need a doctors note for a 2 week self isolation.

B_DOG

nicechap said:

cheshirescat said:

Hi, I have just returned from holidaying overseas. At immigration the officer handed me a Coronavirus leaflet which advised me to "self-isolate" for the next 14 days. I asked him if it was required and he said it's an advisory from the government, whatever that is supposed to mean.

I feel absolutely fine and my employer doesn't pay for sick days so I can't really afford to stay at home. I am wary of talking to my employer about this as I'm on a zero-hour contract and my job isn't one that I can do from home. The manager might just stop giving me any hours for a few weeks, which would be a catastrophe.

Any ideas on what I should do?   

I believe you can be infectious before symptoms show.
If you're an employee you're entitled to Statutory Sick Pay as a minimum but you may need a doctors note for a 2 week self isolation.

Cheshirecat isn't ill. They could try but I doubt GPs will hand out doctor's notes for self-isolation unless there's NHS guidance which requires them to do that.

spadoosh

BelowTheLine said:

spadoosh said:

cheshirescat said:

spadoosh said:

cheshirescat said:

Thanks for that. As I thought, it doesn't look like there's any obligation to pay. Knowing my manager, he definitely feels no "strong moral responsibility to ensure that employees feel safe and secure in their employment".

This is a proper BS statement from ACAS. 
Your manager needs staff for the company to make money. With no or fewer staff there is no or fewer monies available. How do you expect them to pay you when youve not earned/saved them any money? Its like me saying you have a moral obligation to ensure your neighbour feels safe and secure in their house. Then a gang of 30 hoodlums comes up to their door trying to attack them. How do you feel about upholding that kind of moral obligation? 
What happens if the person who pays your wages has recently been on abroad and theyre are told to self isolate? How do you pay people when you dont have the person who pays people to pay them?

What happens when they pay you an average wage and in 6 months when all is back to normal you can pay back your moral obligation by working for free to make up the hours theypaid you for? You going to do that on a zero hour contracts for a boss you clearly have little regard for?

I don't understand why you are shouting at me? I fully agree with your opinion that this is BS, the quote was included because of how silly and lol it sounded to me.

And it isn't ACAS, it's the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

No shouting, asking questions. There is nothing to suggest i am shouting at you. 

There is also nothing to suggest you thought it sounded silly and lol. Nothing. 

You can assume from my post and i cant take what youve actually written. C'mon? Help us out. 

To be fair, your post did come across to me like you were ranting at the OP.

Thanks for that, could you reword my post in such a way that it doesnt come across as a rant? I was asking questions that i had considered that the OP might not have. I dont know how to ask a question differently, than asking the question?

Like i said help me out. Willing to take on board feeedback. Just saying im ranting isnt helping me going forward. 

BelowTheLine

spadoosh said:

BelowTheLine said:

spadoosh said:

cheshirescat said:

spadoosh said:

cheshirescat said:

Thanks for that. As I thought, it doesn't look like there's any obligation to pay. Knowing my manager, he definitely feels no "strong moral responsibility to ensure that employees feel safe and secure in their employment".

This is a proper BS statement from ACAS. 
Your manager needs staff for the company to make money. With no or fewer staff there is no or fewer monies available. How do you expect them to pay you when youve not earned/saved them any money? Its like me saying you have a moral obligation to ensure your neighbour feels safe and secure in their house. Then a gang of 30 hoodlums comes up to their door trying to attack them. How do you feel about upholding that kind of moral obligation? 
What happens if the person who pays your wages has recently been on abroad and theyre are told to self isolate? How do you pay people when you dont have the person who pays people to pay them?

What happens when they pay you an average wage and in 6 months when all is back to normal you can pay back your moral obligation by working for free to make up the hours theypaid you for? You going to do that on a zero hour contracts for a boss you clearly have little regard for?

I don't understand why you are shouting at me? I fully agree with your opinion that this is BS, the quote was included because of how silly and lol it sounded to me.

And it isn't ACAS, it's the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

No shouting, asking questions. There is nothing to suggest i am shouting at you. 

There is also nothing to suggest you thought it sounded silly and lol. Nothing. 

You can assume from my post and i cant take what youve actually written. C'mon? Help us out. 

To be fair, your post did come across to me like you were ranting at the OP.

Thanks for that, could you reword my post in such a way that it doesnt come across as a rant? I was asking questions that i had considered that the OP might not have. I dont know how to ask a question differently, than asking the question?

Like i said help me out. Willing to take on board feeedback. Just saying im ranting isnt helping me going forward. 

@spadoosh Apologies, I didn't mean to diss your post or your writing style. 

The tone of your post came across as a rant to me. But it's probably down to how I see things, others might see it differently, as you intended it. It's just a matter of interpretation.

I thought it was clear from the OP's post that he/she was being sarcastic, but clearly you didn't feel that to be the case and took it literally. As I said, it's just how people interpret the same post in different ways.

BrassicWoman

BelowTheLine said:

spadoosh said:

cheshirescat said:

spadoosh said:

cheshirescat said:

Thanks for that. As I thought, it doesn't look like there's any obligation to pay. Knowing my manager, he definitely feels no "strong moral responsibility to ensure that employees feel safe and secure in their employment".

This is a proper BS statement from ACAS. 
Your manager needs staff for the company to make money. With no or fewer staff there is no or fewer monies available. How do you expect them to pay you when youve not earned/saved them any money? Its like me saying you have a moral obligation to ensure your neighbour feels safe and secure in their house. Then a gang of 30 hoodlums comes up to their door trying to attack them. How do you feel about upholding that kind of moral obligation? 
What happens if the person who pays your wages has recently been on abroad and theyre are told to self isolate? How do you pay people when you dont have the person who pays people to pay them?

What happens when they pay you an average wage and in 6 months when all is back to normal you can pay back your moral obligation by working for free to make up the hours theypaid you for? You going to do that on a zero hour contracts for a boss you clearly have little regard for?

I don't understand why you are shouting at me? I fully agree with your opinion that this is BS, the quote was included because of how silly and lol it sounded to me.

And it isn't ACAS, it's the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

No shouting, asking questions. There is nothing to suggest i am shouting at you. 

There is also nothing to suggest you thought it sounded silly and lol. Nothing. 

You can assume from my post and i cant take what youve actually written. C'mon? Help us out. 

To be fair, your post did come across to me like you were ranting at the OP.

To me too It's all the "how do you expect" stuff. There's a subtext of "durrr, you idiot" in that kind of  question. "Have you considered?" softens it a lot.

spadoosh

BrassicWoman said:

BelowTheLine said:

spadoosh said:

cheshirescat said:

spadoosh said:

cheshirescat said:

Thanks for that. As I thought, it doesn't look like there's any obligation to pay. Knowing my manager, he definitely feels no "strong moral responsibility to ensure that employees feel safe and secure in their employment".

This is a proper BS statement from ACAS. 
Your manager needs staff for the company to make money. With no or fewer staff there is no or fewer monies available. How do you expect them to pay you when youve not earned/saved them any money? Its like me saying you have a moral obligation to ensure your neighbour feels safe and secure in their house. Then a gang of 30 hoodlums comes up to their door trying to attack them. How do you feel about upholding that kind of moral obligation? 
What happens if the person who pays your wages has recently been on abroad and theyre are told to self isolate? How do you pay people when you dont have the person who pays people to pay them?

What happens when they pay you an average wage and in 6 months when all is back to normal you can pay back your moral obligation by working for free to make up the hours theypaid you for? You going to do that on a zero hour contracts for a boss you clearly have little regard for?

I don't understand why you are shouting at me? I fully agree with your opinion that this is BS, the quote was included because of how silly and lol it sounded to me.

And it isn't ACAS, it's the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

No shouting, asking questions. There is nothing to suggest i am shouting at you. 

There is also nothing to suggest you thought it sounded silly and lol. Nothing. 

You can assume from my post and i cant take what youve actually written. C'mon? Help us out. 

To be fair, your post did come across to me like you were ranting at the OP.

To me too It's all the "how do you expect" stuff. There's a subtext of "durrr, you idiot" in that kind of  question. "Have you considered?" softens it a lot.

I think thats working on the basis that i consider myself a bastion of all knowledge, i do not. Have you considered im aware i dont know who im talking to as such can not determine their levels of idiocy?

pmlindyloo

I think the answer to the question does depend on where the OP went on holiday.
News about self isolating is changing all the time:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51625733
If the OP was given a leaflet on arrival then it would be interesting to know exactly what it said as regarding self isolation.  Was the leaflet given because the OP had returned from a particular area?
I think it is unwise to minimise the spread of the coronavirus.  Yes, the mortality rate is fairly low but in order to contain spreading it to vulnerable people then it does seem sensible to self isolate if you have travelled to a high risk area (these are changing on a daily basis.)

As regards being paid then I think the OP should inform their employer about their situation and ask whether they should come to work or self isolate.  Telephoning an NHS helpline would also be a good idea.
Even on a zero hours contract the OP should be paid SSP if advised that they are not fit for work.
The OP's employer may not appear to be sympathetic in the OP's opinion but if the OP returns to work and other employees are concerned because of where they have been on holiday then things could go horribly wrong.  The employer may find themselves without any employees!  Maybe a bit OTT but people do tend to go into panic mode with such things.

Marvel1

spadoosh said:

cheshirescat said:

Thanks for that. As I thought, it doesn't look like there's any obligation to pay. Knowing my manager, he definitely feels no "strong moral responsibility to ensure that employees feel safe and secure in their employment".

Its like me saying you have a moral obligation to ensure your neighbour feels safe and secure in their house. Then a gang of 30 hoodlums comes up to their door trying to attack them. How do you feel about upholding that kind of moral obligation? 

What happens if the person who pays your wages has recently been on abroad and theyre are told to self isolate? How do you pay people when you dont have the person who pays people to pay them?

 I'm bored.

So  I would call 999. 

The company is well !!!!!! for having no back up, the person who pays could have a car accident and die.  I don't think staff should suffer not being paid.