Next and other big employers cut sick pay for unvaccinated workers

Next has cut sick pay for unvaccinated members of its workforce who are forced to self-isolate when someone close to them contracts the virus.

Under a rule change introduced in England last month, vaccinated people no longer need to isolate even if they are ‘close contacts’ of someone who has contracted the virus – and can take daily lateral flow tests instead.

But there is no change to regulations applying to close contacts of people who have not had a jab, meaning they are still required to isolate for a full 10 days if they come into contact with someone who has tested positive.

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Next, which is based in Enderby, is understood to have ruled that any unjabbed worker who is not infected but is self-isolating will only receive statutory sick pay.

The firm, which employs around 44,000 people, is said to have introduced the measure after recently seeing a sharp rise in staff absences due to the Omicron variant, according to the BBC.

The move sees Next follow in the footsteps of other large employers such as Ikea and Morrison’s that have been reported to have introduced a similar policy.

Its warehouse workers are currently reported to earn between £9.30 and £11.26 an hour, while store sales staff and stock assistants are said to get an hourly rate of between £6.55 and £9.21.

Staff who fall foul of the new sick pay rule could earn just £96.35 a week, which is the national minimum for statutory sick pay rate.

Next has said that some unvaccinated staff members forced to self-isolate as close contacts can still get full pay if there are extenuating circumstances

Despite the reported rise in staff absences due to Covid, Next last week confirmed that it had experienced healthy sales over Christmas.

The company did say that deliveries had suffered during the festive holiday, however, due to staff shortages in warehousing and distribution.

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