Supermarket Morrisons confirms sick pay cut for unvaccinated
Morrisons has confirmed it has cut sick pay for unvaccinated workers who are forced to isolate after being exposed to Covid.
Unvaccinated Morrisons workers who are told to isolate but test negative now get statutory sick pay of £96.35 a week.
Covid-positive staff get full sick pay regardless of vaccination status. The firm pays staff at least £10 per hour.
Its was reported by the Guardian that chief executive Dave Potts first mentioned the policy in a conference call with investors in September as part of a plan to tackle the “biblical costs” of dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.
The move was intended to encourage workers to get jabbed, the newspaper said.
Under the retail giant’s policy, if NHS Test and Trace informs an unvaccinated worker that they have been exposed to Covid-19, they will only get statutory sick pay – the legal minimum – when they isolate.
In England, unvaccinated people must isolate for 10 days if they are a close contact of someone with Covid, even if they do not test positive themselves. However, any Morrisons employee who tests positive is paid full sick pay while they isolate, regardless of vaccination status.
Morrisons said its policy only applies to workers who are unvaccinated by choice, and each individual is treated on a case-by-case basis. Workers who cannot receive Covid vaccines for medical reasons are not obliged to isolate in England.
In the last few weeks, IKEA, Ocado and Next have changed their policy on unvaccinated staff who have been exposed to coronavirus. Collectively they employ nearly 60,000 workers. Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Asda pay unvaccinated workers full company sick pay when they are isolating.
