Ikea cuts sick pay for unvaccinated staff forced to self-isolate

By Russell Hotten
The news is from the BBC.

The image is from the same source.

Unvaccinated Ikea staff who need to self-isolate because of Covid exposure have their sick pay cut.

The retail giant acknowledged it was an "emotive topic" but said it had to evolve with changing circumstances.

In the US, several major companies have started to penalize workers who are unjabbed.

It comes as firms struggle with mass staff absences.

Ikea unvaccinated workers who are required to isolation could receive as little as £96.35 a week, the Statutory Sick Pay minimum.

If a worker is unvaccinated and has tested positive for Covid, but has a medical exemption, the company will consider individual cases as to whether they will be paid full sick pay.

Ikea said that if there were no circumstances, bosses would look at the worker's absence record and make a decision on sick pay.

Staff at Ikea get enhanced sick pay and average wages are between 400 and 500 dollars. The move was reported by the Mail on Sunday.

Ikea said in a statement that "fully vaccined co-workers or those with mitigated circumstances will receive full pay for self-isolations."
Unvaccinated co-workers will be paid in line with the company absence policy for self-isolation, with close-contact isolation being paid at Statutory Sick Pay.
Anyone in doubt or concerned about their situation is encouraged to speak to their manager, as all circumstances will be considered on a case by case basis.

If you have been in close contact with someone who has Covid, you don't need to self-isolate. Unvaccinated people must still be isolated by law.

Many companies complained of labour shortages throughout the year, and now are seeing mass absences due to the Omicron Covid strain.

The image is from the same source.

The data continued to show that the people most seriously affected by Omicron remained unvaccinated, according to Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

The rule change on sick pay comes into effect this week.

If an employee is forced to self-isolate due to close contact with someone testing positive for Covid-19, they will only get statutory sick pay.

The vast majority of our workforce has been vaccination and it's important as a company providing essential services with key worker employees, the remainder get vaccinations to protect themselves, customers and their colleagues.

"Absences due to Covid have doubled in the last week, so we need everyone to be available so we can continue to provide essential water and sewerage services."

The company said that it had not laid off staff and that those who self-isolated had been paid.

Several companies, including Citigroup, introduced a "no jab, no job" policy last year, after Morrisons cut sick pay terms. Delta Airlines imposed a surcharge on unvaccinated staff.

The pros and cons of changing sick pay terms for certain workers were discussed by the head of public policy at the CIPD.

It could encourage staff to get vaccinations, but others might be less likely to test themselves or self-isolate because they can't afford time off work at the statutory rate.

His organisation's official guidance was not to differentiate between employees, as the consequences could be complex and there were potential legal problems.

"You would have to manage it on a case-by-case basis because of legal risks," Mr Willmott said.

David Josephs, the boss of food importer and retailer All Greens, told the BBC that some staff were ignoring Covid rules for financial reasons.

A lot of staff in our sector don't get paid sick pay. He said that staff who are on limited contracts or on minimum wage cannot afford to be off work.

Sarah Ozanne warned of complex legal issues and said it was difficult to strike the right balance.

She said that Ikea's action seems to be more of a reaction to staff shortages and how to manage them than any intended discrimination of the unvaccinated.

Employers should consider whether their actions are in line with the aim of getting employees back into work.

Is your place of work cutting sick pay for unvaccinated staff? What do you think about this? You can email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

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Companies.
Ikea.
A coronaviruses epidemic.