Quote:
Originally Posted by Damien
Boris Johnson made a point that in Germany it's far less common to go into work if you're ill with a virus and maybe we need to think like that. I think that's a good way to go. Prior to COVID I think not only did people go into work with cold or flu symptoms but it was almost viewed as an amicable trait to get into work when ill. Obviously now a lot more people can work from home so it's easier to do.
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So the system needs to be changed to allow that to become the norm.
They seem to have decided to lapse the legal requirement to self-isolate with a similar lapsing with SSP back to pre-pandemic levels. Ultimately this is probably the right way to do it; temporary legislation forced the change and the actual details are probably somewhere else.
But it should definitely be the case that people shouldn't have to go into work if they are ill with something which could infect others. And this should have always been the case before COVID - the immunocompromised people have to work too and if someone goes in with something which is mild to them then it might make them ill, or if someone else in the office who is healthy lives with an immunocompromised partner, parent, or child, then they could take the illness home. It's common sense to suggest that these people should be working from home if they are well enough and if their job allows them to, and if not, they should be off sick until they are better, and their SSP supports this. There should also be similar measures of support for people on things such as zero hours/flexible contracts or self-employed people who are booked in to work on a less concrete basis and they should also be covered for the jobs they would have done were they not ill. People shouldn't have to make the choice of whether to go into work ill and be able to pay the bills or be off ill and not be able to pay.
Given that a fair amount of firms with office based staff are only likely to be planning a part time / flexible working approach where they work some days at home and some in the office, and with this being created during various periods of restrictions, it's something more employers have the facility to do anyway, and which having set up they're less likely to then change back at least straight away or permanently.
Much as I don't think they work for the general public who are not ill, I can also see that people will take to wearing masks if they have to go out and aren't feeling well, are in a hospital environment, or are on crowded public transport where there is a higher risk of transmitting disease. It would be good if this was continued, for people to be encouraged to wear better masks and not the disposable paper or cheap cloth masks as they have a better effect.
There are clearly a few ways we can do things differently now the pandemic has largely finished here.