In the midst of a Covid-19 flare-up and almost two calendar years into the pandemic, England last week dropped all its protective measures against the spread of the virus. In doing so, it is following the lead of countries like Denmark, Switzerland, and the Dominican Republic, which have removed legal requirements to self-isolate after a positive test.
In these countries, there is no longer a support net that enables people to avoid financial penalties if they fall ill. Until now in England, employees have been able to claim statutory sick pay (SSP) from the first day of illness, which amounts to £96.35 ($127) a week. In a similar approach, countries like Estonia, Latvia, Portugal, Sweden, and France waived waiting periods for sick pay and sickness benefits to fight the spread of the virus.
With Covid-19 infection levels in some areas of the UK at their highest since the pandemic began, the government’s decision to drop restrictions is problematic. UK prime minister Boris Johnson’s advice to cope with these changes was to “be more disciplined about not going into work when you are sick.” He encouraged Britons to break a lifelong habit of presenteeism and be more like German workers. Except Germans receive 100 percent of their pay for eight weeks if they fall ill, representing one of the highest sick-pay rates in Europe. Britons get the lowest. In the US, where the government is under pressure to drop Covid-19 restrictions and mask mandates, there is no statutory sick pay at all.
Staying home when sick has never been part of the UK’s cultural fabric, where employees face pressure to not “let down the side.” Going into work when sick is the norm in the country, even when the illness could easily be passed on to others. Data from 2016 found that 86 percent of Britons would go into work with an infectious illness. The same research found that almost a quarter feel their manager would prefer it if they attended work in those circumstances. And so the contagion can spread.
When the pandemic was in its early stages, there was some hope that it would end, or at least reduce, presenteeism in the workplace. However, in a country where statutory sick pay is getting worse, this is nothing but a pipe dream. In an era of remote work, the need to soldier on has prevailed. In the first year of the pandemic, Britons actually took fewer sick days than in 2019, reaching the lowest rate since 1995. Over half of hybrid workers (52 percent) and nearly half of remote workers (44 percent) said they feel obligated to work while unwell when they’re working remotely.
The correlation between paid sick leave and sick days taken is hard to ignore. Workers offered the most generous sick pay take the most absences, and those offered the least, take the least. Employees in Norway, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, and Belgium, who receive 100 percent of their wages from their first week of illness and for a month minimum, also take some of the most sick days in Europe. On average, Germans take 18.3 days off sick every year, while Britons take just 5.8. Incentivizing staying home from day one is particularly important in the context of Covid, as viral load and risk of infection peak quickly once symptoms begin and people can remain contagious for up to 10 days.
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Alex Collinson, an analysis and research officer at the UK’s Trades Union Congress (TUC), points out that the reintroduction of the three-day waiting period means that if someone isolates for five days of a week, they only get paid for two days. “It brings SSP down from £96 a week to £39, which is not enough to live off,” he says. “It’s a massive barrier to doing the right thing.”
The TUC is proposing an increase to around £346 per week, as suggested by the Living Wage Foundation. “When people get sick, they should not be faced with financial hardship for taking time off,” says Collinson.
The new rules are particularly galling for those who are clinically vulnerable and may struggle to return to the workplace. Alison Crockford works in cybersecurity as an awareness manager and is immunosuppressed due to a kidney transplant. “I would love to go back to the office on a hybrid model, but now that testing and isolation is no longer the norm, it's far more difficult for me to travel to the office and work safely,” she explains.
“The perception that those with underlying conditions ‘were going to die anyway’ and couldn’t be happy, functioning members of society depresses me,” says the 41-year-old. “The ‘othering’ of anyone who’s not fortunate enough to be completely healthy right now is exhausting.”
Beyond “getting better at not going to work while sick,” no part of England’s plan gives a credible explanation on how the immunocompromised and people with disabilities are meant to live and do their jobs alongside the virus.
“We’ve worked well in the UK for some time to advance ability-status equality in the workplace, but the lifting of these measures takes a step back,” explains Simon Williams, a behavioral scientist at Swansea University. Indeed, data gathered by the UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS) in mid-March shows that people with disabilities were more likely to think life would never return to normal, and 57 percent are avoiding close contact with those they don’t live with, compared to 41 percent of nondisabled. The majority are spending more time at home too.
Throughout the pandemic, close attention has been paid to the number of Britons who've lost their lives to Covid, but less has been paid to those who have lost their health to long Covid. The true impact of this debilitating condition is beginning to come to light. According to self-reported stats from the ONS, 1.3 million Britons are experiencing symptoms lasting longer than four weeks since they were infected, including fatigue, shortness of breath, and difficulty breathing. Some 18 percent report that their ability to undertake day-to-day activities has been limited “a lot.”
Needless to say, the impact on businesses has—and will be—monumental. A quarter of British employers cite long Covid as the main cause for long-term health-related absence, in a survey of 804 organizations with over 4.3 million employees by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Some 46 percent have employees with long Covid. The Resolution Foundation think tank suggests there’s a high chance that it’s a contributing factor in the UK’s labor shortage and the “Great Resignation.” The same is true in the US, according to the Brookings Institution.
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The TUC is calling for the government to recognize long Covid as a disability. “It would protect workers under the Equality Act and, most importantly, give them the right to reasonable adjustments at work,” says Collinson. “That includes everything from flexible working arrangements to longer rest breaks and special software and equipment.”
An innate work ethic, pressure from the top, and financial worries are all contributing factors, but as employees return to offices, Williams says, this overarching presenteeism is terrible for public health. “It contributes to avoidable transmission of infectious illnesses—not just Covid—which isn’t cost-effective for businesses,” he says. “A lot of countries have much better sick pay, and raising it would help to change a culturally ingrained habit of feeling unwell, complaining about it, but doing it anyway.”
With absenteeism now a luxury many workers can’t afford, the pressure is on individual businesses to foster environments that recognize all levels of vulnerability. “We do have to live with Covid and focus on personal responsibility,” says Williams. “But there’s a danger that if we say personal responsibility or policy, we throw the baby out with the bathwater.”
The best approach is a set of policies that entrust people with the ability to exercise responsibility and be cautious. At the very least, if governments want people to self isolate—and they should—they need to get paid enough to live on. Perhaps then, they could be more like the Germans.
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