Covid19 Can't work from home and no sick pay

NurseMoneySaver1122

Hi
I currently clean and it's looking increasingly likely that the building I clean in are going to make their staff work from home. 
I earn less than the required amount to qualify for statutory sick pay (SSP), and I can't of course work from home too, nor will my company likely pay me to clean an empty office.

I'm really concerned that I'm literally entitled to nothing, nor will I even have the option to work even if I wanted to. And working from home could go on for months for all we know!  I'm beyond worried about financial implications right now, as are many people of course.

Is there anything I can do/anyone I can speak to?

KatrinaWaves

What hours are you contracted to? If the company cannot provide alternative work for you then you should still be paid your contractual wage, it’s not as if you are choosing to self isolate. 

NurseMoneySaver1122

I work 10 hours p/w (2 p/d).  If they offer alternative work, I'll take it. Although travel implications then concern me? I work very close to home so my commute is walkable. So if they sent me further out, am I going to be responsible for travel costs I don't normally incur?
I've already been asked to do a 'deep clean' overtime on all high touch areas (even if they won't call it a deep clean for the avoidance of paying extra money!), for my usual minimum wage. I've politely declined purely because I'd be further exposing myself and then risk being off sick with no pay as a result, all for minimum wage. They would be charging the company for higher deep clean rates too, meanwhile I'm the one over-exposing myself without any of that being passed on. I'd rather try to stay healthy than earn £8 extra per day for the added risk!
I recently TUPE'd to this company and they have already proven to be awful. So I know that they will offer/do the legal minimum. So if they 'law' doesn't require them to provide alternative work OR still pay full pay, they will not.
All the unknowns are so worrying

John_

So you are refusing to do the work that they ask you to perform, yet not happy that you may now have less work to do?

You shouldn’t be surprised if they ask you not to come back at all given such a response to a reasonable work request. If, as a cleaner, you won’t carry out cleaning then they will likely want to replace you with someone who will. I think that the safest option would be for you to find a different job.

yksi

The OP was asking about their entitlements, even if we have a personal opinion on rejecting extra work, which presumably should have been safe assuming that the correct PPE was going to be supplied. Just because they're a cleaner doesn't mean they should have to do work that isn't in their contract - I really hope it wasn't that because it's a cleaner they deserve to get sacked? Just imagine what it would be like if nobody emptied the office bins, scrubbed the warehouse loo, or mopped the hospital floor.

OP, I've been a supervisor looking after cleaners whose workplace was closed, including two who were direct hires and two who had been TUPE'd. Your workplace is entitled to ask you to perform comparable work elsewhere unless your contract specifies that you only work at the location you mention above. If you originally worked for a cleaning company, I am 99% sure that your contract will mention your "usual workplace" and also contain a clause that from time to time or according to business need they may ask you to work elsewhere - cleaning companies ALWAYS do this in case they lose a contract and need to relocate their cleaners. Yes, you are responsible for travel costs and they are not deductable nor does your employer have to pay you for travel if it's within a reasonable distance, and generally that's one hour. However, if you originally worked in-house and you were outsourced to the cleaning company, your contract *might* specify only one place of work, so it's possible you would get paid to stay home (or clean the same empty building). Depends on your contract, but they were probably smart enough to include the clause too, so you'll need to check.

Having been TUPE'd will probably go in your favour (provided you are willing to relocate). If the business suffers and starts to lose money and is forced to make a "cull", it is very likely that you have more rights in your original contract than their most recent employees, plus longer service and a higher potential redundancy bill, meaning it's easier for them to terminate other people before you. It's no guarantee they'd keep you forever mind you, businesses determined to let staff go will nearly always find a way.

So after all this if you discover that legally they can pay you nothing - welcome to the world of insecure income - you might then want to look at a benefits entitlement calculator. There are a huge number of us in the same position.

A_Nice_Englishman

Last month you were thinking of returning to nursing.

There should be plenty of such work over the next few months and there was talk of the NHS encouraging retired (and former?) staff to return. The expense of re-qualifying would be covered I'd imagine.

Takmon

yksi said:

The OP was asking about their entitlements, even if we have a personal opinion on rejecting extra work, which presumably should have been safe assuming that the correct PPE was going to be supplied. Just because they're a cleaner doesn't mean they should have to do work that isn't in their contract - I really hope it wasn't that because it's a cleaner they deserve to get sacked? Just imagine what it would be like if nobody emptied the office bins, scrubbed the warehouse loo, or mopped the hospital floor.

The OP is " beyond worried about financial implications" so that suggests they have no emergency fund set up yet they are refusing extra work which will give them extra money to build up some savings. Frankly they are really silly to turn down this work considering their financial situation so it would be reasonable for their employer to replace them with someone who wants to do the job. 

NurseMoneySaver1122 said:

I work 10 hours p/w (2 p/d).  If they offer alternative work, I'll take it. Although travel implications then concern me? I work very close to home so my commute is walkable. So if they sent me further out, am I going to be responsible for travel costs I don't normally incur?
I've already been asked to do a 'deep clean' overtime on all high touch areas (even if they won't call it a deep clean for the avoidance of paying extra money!), for my usual minimum wage. I've politely declined purely because I'd be further exposing myself and then risk being off sick with no pay as a result, all for minimum wage. They would be charging the company for higher deep clean rates too, meanwhile I'm the one over-exposing myself without any of that being passed on. I'd rather try to stay healthy than earn £8 extra per day for the added risk!
I recently TUPE'd to this company and they have already proven to be awful. So I know that they will offer/do the legal minimum. So if they 'law' doesn't require them to provide alternative work OR still pay full pay, they will not.
All the unknowns are so worrying

Your best option is to go back to your employer and tell them your happy to do the extra work before they find someone else. If your worried about your financial situation then why would you not jump at the chance to do extra work?. There is very little risk doing an extra hours cleaning a day because your already going to be there anyway and while your cleaning you will be wearing gloves so what is an extra hour doing some more thorough cleaning going to do exactly...

TBagpuss

If you are an employee then you should get paid if your employer tells younot to go to work. If you are on a zero hours contract and are not offered the hours then you should be able to apply for Universal Credit or Jobseekeers.

However you having declined the hours offered by your employer may complicate things. I agree with those saying it would be sensible for you to go back and accept the hours, if you can. I don't think you would be putting yourself at additional risk - presumably you would be cleaning while the office is closed, and presumably you already wear gloves when cleaning, so you wouldn't be touching potentially contaminated surfaces with your hands (which would be a risk)  Any additional risk would only be if you were touching contaminated surfaces and then touching your face - but you could also ask your employers for advice about any additional precautions you should be taking.
If you are offered work at a different location then yes, the cost of getting there would normally be your responsibility, employers don't normally pay their employees commuting costs