Why the state must protect 300,000 vulnerable workers as lockdown eases - Greg Wright

WE all yearn for life to return to its normal rhythms and for the black cloud cast by the pandemic to blow away forever.
The Chancellor Rishi Sunak has overseen an unprecedented level of state interventon to support businesses during the pandemic.The Chancellor Rishi Sunak has overseen an unprecedented level of state interventon to support businesses during the pandemic.
The Chancellor Rishi Sunak has overseen an unprecedented level of state interventon to support businesses during the pandemic.

But hundreds of thousands of people are dreading the prospect of a swift return to business as usual.

The virus hasn’t signed a treaty. Venturing into the workplace still poses a risk for people in vulnerable groups. That’s why the humanitarian case for extending state protection to safeguard them remains.

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A charity has called for shielding employees who cannot return to work to be furloughed at 80 per cent of their wages. Age UK believes there should be greater protection for staff who are unable to return to work for health reasons and whose job cannot be done from home.

Blood Cancer UK has launched a similar campaign, saying some jobs are difficult or impossible to do while continually social distancing. Shielding is due to end in England and Northern Ireland on July 31 and doctors should then decide whether patients can reasonably be expected to work, depending on their workplace.

According to the Government, employers have been told to make sure the shielded can work from home wherever possible, including moving them to another role if required.

If employers cannot provide a Covid-safe working environment, those who are clinically vulnerable will be able to access financial support including statutory sick pay and welfare payments, it has said.

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Age UK said its own analysis shows that around 319,000 workers aged 50 and over were advised to shield in March for health reasons, while others have health conditions that make working close to other people risky.

Some of them are also living with someone who is clinically vulnerable and must take extra care. The charity is campaigning for furlough-style payments for these people and for full employment rights to be maintained.

It also wants extra protection from dismissal for people who are coming back from furlough or from shielding, and extensions to the right to work flexibly and from home.

The charity says clinical practitioners or health and safety assessors should be in charge of workplace assessments, and further clarification is needed on Covid-secure workplace guidance.

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To quote Age UK’s charity director, Caroline Abrahams: “We fear that, unless the Government intervenes to help, this situation is a recipe for unemployment among older shielded workers to soar.

“Yet these people who have been shielding have made great sacrifices over the last few months to protect themselves, their families and the NHS, and it would be hugely unfair if they lost their jobs now as a result.”

The Government says the decision on shielding advice should always be based on conversations between doctors and their patients.

The Government added: “The latest evidence shows that the chance of encountering coronavirus in the community continues to decline and this has allowed for the relaxation of our guidance.”

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This is not a time for complacency, as the following case study, supplied by the TUC, illustrates.

A worker was diagnosed with thyroid cancer during the Covid-19 pandemic.

She was, at the start of the pandemic, not required to shield, but after her diagnosis and radiation treatment she was considered to be clinically extremely vulnerable.

She was classified as post-treatment and according to Government advice, required to shield and to work from home. Her status changed during the pandemic and will change again once the effects of the radiation therapy have worn off, making it difficult for the Government and her employer to track what level of risk she has.

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This case highlights the dangerous times we live in. The Government has already unveiled an unprecedented level of state intervention to prevent mass unemployment.

Although nobody should underestimate the colossal cost, the case for further state protection for the most vulnerable is compelling. Lives depend on it.

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James Mitchinson

Editor

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