Home working to form part of Prime Minister’s Coronavirus strategy

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that encouragement of remote and home working practices will form part of the UK government’s strategy to control the spread of the Coronavirus outbreak in the UK.

The promotion of home working forms part of a wider government approach to mitigate the virus’ impact in the UK, alongside an extensive NHS public information campaign, and possible emergency registration of retired healthcare workers.

Use of remote working will discourage unnecessary travel, and avoid companies having to shut down temporarily in the event of an outbreak.  Should the virus become more widespread with new cases no longer linked to travel to countries where the disease is more prevalent, the government will encourage home working for all workers where this is possible as part of its social distancing strategy.

Social distancing is one of the most effective ways to limit person-to-person transmission of the virus, as shown by declining infection rates in areas of China where movement has been highly restricted.

The announcement will also allay some concerns over workers’ rights in the event of an outbreak. At present, staff are not entitled to statutory sick pay if they choose to self-isolate for fear of having been in contact with an infected person, only if they go on to develop the illness.

Trade unions have raised concerns that workers who do not qualify sick pay, particularly lower paid or gig economy workers, will eschew self-isolation for fear of loss of earnings, or worse still, continuing to work while sick.  These workers are often in roles where home working is not possible, such as in the care and retail sectors.

However, some employers are choosing to offer sick pay on a discretionary basis, such as Greggs, which announced self-isolating employees would receive sick pay. Food delivery app, Deliveroo, whose delivery drivers are self-employed is also considering financial support for those affected, as it has previously done in Hong Kong.

The Coronavirus outbreak has seen stock markets fall in recent days, and manufacturing output has been hit as the Chinese government has enforced factory closures to mitigate the spread of the virus.