Met Office issues extreme heat weather warning for the first time
Forecasters warn temperatures will continue to climb and could reach 33 degrees C (91.4F) in some parts of the country
TUC calls on employers to make sure staff are protected from the sun and heat
The TUC has urged employers to make sure their staff are protected from the sun and heat, as the Met Office issues one of its new-style extreme amber heat weather warnings for the first time.
The amber warning covers parts of Wales, all of south-west England and parts of southern and central England and will be in place until Thursday (22 July), when temperatures are expected to peak.
Health warning
Working in hot weather can lead to dehydration, tiredness, muscle cramps, rashes, fainting, and – in the most extreme cases – loss of consciousness.
The TUC says employers can help their workers by:
Allowing flexible working: Giving staff the chance to come in earlier or stay later will let them avoid the stifling and unpleasant conditions of the rush hour commute. Bosses should also consider enabling staff to work from home while it is hot.
Keeping workplace buildings cool: Workplaces can be kept cooler and more bearable by taking simple steps such as opening windows, using fans, moving staff away from windows or sources of heat, or installing ventilation or air-cooling.
Temporarily relaxing their workplace dress codes: Encouraging staff to work in more casual clothing than normal – leaving the jackets and ties at home – will help them keep cool.
Keeping staff comfortable: Allowing staff to take frequent breaks and providing a supply of cold drinks will all help keep workers cool.
Talking and listening to staff and their union: Staff will have their own ideas about how best to cope with the excessive heat.
Sensible hours and shaded areas for outdoor workers: Outside tasks should be scheduled for early morning and late afternoon, not between 11am-3pm when temperatures are highest. Bosses should provide canopies/shades where possible.
Sun protection: Prolonged sun exposure can be dangerous for outdoor workers, so employers should make sun protection available.
The law
There’s no law for minimum or maximum working temperatures. However, during working hours the temperature in all indoor workplaces must be ‘reasonable’.
Guidance suggests a minimum of 16degC, or 13degC if employees are doing physical work. And employers have a duty to keep the temperature at a comfortable level and provide clean and fresh air.
The TUC would like to see a change in the law so that employers must attempt to reduce temperatures if they get above 24degC and workers feel uncomfortable. And employers should also be obliged to provide sun protection and water for outdoor workers.
The TUC would also like ministers to introduce a new maximum indoor temperature, set at 30degC – or 27degC for those doing strenuous jobs.
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “We all love the summer sun. But working in sweltering conditions in a baking shop or stifling office can be unbearable and dangerous.
“Indoor workplaces should be kept cool, with relaxed dress codes and flexible working to make use of the coolest hours of the day.
“And bosses must make sure outdoor workers are protected with regular breaks, lots of fluids, plenty of sunscreen and the right protective clothing.”
The TUC is also asking employers to consider additional needs that may arise in hot weather from coronavirus health and safety requirements. Frances O’Grady added:
“It’s even more important to use PPE safely in this hot weather. Staff will need extra breaks to cool down if their equipment reduces ventilation.
“And while many offices have air conditioning, few people have it in their homes. Lots of staff are still working from home, so they may struggle to work during the hottest parts of the day. Employers should allow flexible hours so people can work when it’s cooler.”
People across Scotland are being given the chance to become owners of at-risk local pubs, theatres, post offices, sports grounds and corner shops thanks to the UK Government’s new £150 million Community Ownership Fund.
The move is part of the UK Government’s strategy to build back better from the pandemic by giving communities the power to save the local institutions that bring us together and foster a sense of community.
Details were published yesterday of how voluntary and community organisations across Scotland and the rest of the UK will be able to bid for up to £250,000 matched funding to buy or take over local assets and run them.
Up to £1 million will be available to establish sports clubs or help to buy sports grounds at risk without intervention – meaning a group of loyal supporters could become the Chairman and board at their beloved local team.
A total of £12.3 million has been set aside for community projects in Scotland, whether they be sporting and leisure facilities, cinemas and theatres, music venues, museums, galleries, parks, pubs, post office buildings and shops.
The Prime Minister unveiled more detail as part of a major speech setting out how the UK Government will continue to ‘level up’ all regions of the country as we bounce back from the pandemic.
Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said: “Alongside the Levelling Up, Community Renewal and UK Shared Prosperity Funds, the Community Ownership Fund is part of a crucial package of UK Government investment to support communities.
“The funds will play an important role as we build back better from the pandemic. I encourage communities across Scotland to take advantage of the wonderful opportunities the Community Ownership Fund provides.”
The announcement follows major investment and action from the UK Government to level up opportunity and prosperity across all areas of the country, including through the £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund and the £220 million Community Renewal Fund.
The UK Government will undertake a series of information events with communities, the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) and local authorities in all parts of the UK.
The first bidding round closes on 13th August with another seven bidding rounds expected to take place over the next four years.
TUC: We can’t level up the country without levelling up at work
Commenting on yesterday’s speech by the prime minister on levelling up, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “We can’t level up the country without levelling up at work.
“This pandemic has brutally exposed the terrible working conditions, low pay and insecurity many of our key workers face.
“But so far, there has been precious little to show for the government’s vaunted levelling up agenda. And today’s announcements will do little to change that.
“With more than 1 million children of key worker households in poverty and 3.6 million workers stuck in insecure jobs, it’s time the government moved on from empty sound bites.
“Enough is enough. Ministers must invest in good green jobs in industries of the future, ban zero hours contracts and give all of our key workers a pay rise.
“And they must invest in warmer homes, faster broadband and better public transport links across the country. That’s how we level up the UK.”
New research published by the TUC (produced by Landman Economics) finds that over a million children of key workers are currently living in poverty.
The research, which used the government definition for key workers, found that in some regions more than a quarter of children in key worker households are living in poverty.
Key worker families in the North East have the highest rate of child poverty (29%), followed by London (27%), the West Midlands (25%) and Yorkshire and the Humber (25%).
Government policies could worsen key worker poverty
The TUC says the main reasons for key worker family poverty are low pay and insecure hours – factors that often coincide in occupations such as care workers, delivery drivers or supermarket staff.
High housing costs further reduce keyworker family budgets for essentials like groceries and utility bills. And support through Universal Credit is not enough to guarantee families avoid poverty.
Current government policies are likely to increase child poverty rates. Ministers have capped pay rises for key workers in the public sector, which in some cases will mean real wage losses. And the chancellor is planning to cut Universal Credit for low-income families by £20 per week in October.
The TUC warns that these policies will put the brakes on the nation’s economic recovery by curbing household spending. This will restrain business activity, and impact on wage growth for other workers across the economy.
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:“Every key worker deserves a decent standard of living for their family. But too often their hard work is not paying off like it should. And they struggle to keep up with the basic costs of family life.
“The prime minister has promised to ‘build back fairer’. He should start with our key workers. They put themselves in harm’s way to keep the country going through the pandemic. Now, we must be there for them too.
“This isn’t just about doing right thing by key workers. If we put more money in the pockets of working families, their spending will help our businesses and high streets recover. It’s the fuel in the tank that our economy needs.”
Support needed for key worker families
The TUC is calling on the government to guarantee decent living standards for key worker families by:
Raising the national minimum wage to £10 per hour immediately.
Ending the freeze on public service workers’ pay and give all public service workers a decent pay rise.
Funding the public sector so that all outsourced workers are paid at least the real Living Wage and get parity with directly employed staff.
Canceling the £20 cut to Universal Credit, which is set to hit low-income families in October, and set out plans to increase child benefit above inflation each year across the parliament.
– Children in poverty in key worker households by UK nation and region
Region
Children in poverty in key worker families
Proportion of children in poverty in key worker families
Prime Minister sets out plan to ease restrictions at step 4
COVID restrictions are set to end in England from step 4 of the Roadmap after the Prime Minister set out how life will soon return close to normal.
Social distancing to end, facemasks no longer mandatory, and no limits on gatherings
All venues currently closed can safely reopen with no capacity limits
PM: We must find a new way of living with the virus
COVID restrictions are set to end in England from step 4 of the Roadmap after the Prime Minister set out how life will soon return close to normal.
The decision to open up will be made in a balanced and careful way, with the Prime Minister being clear that people’s personal judgement will now be key in learning to live with the virus.
Subject to a final review of the data next week, legal restrictions will end on Monday 19 July.
Limits on social contact will end, meaning there will be no restrictions on indoor or outdoor gatherings. Weddings, funerals and other life events able to take place without limits or restrictions.
All venues currently closed will be allowed to reopen, including nightclubs, and there will be no legal requirement for table service in hospitality settings.
Face coverings will no longer be legally required in shops, schools, hospitality, or on public transport although guidance will be in place to suggest where people might choose to wear one, such as where you come into contact with people you don’t usually meet in enclosed and crowded places.
The government reviews into social distancing and Covid-status certification have also now concluded. The 1m plus rule will be lifted other than in specific places such as at the border to help manage the risks of new variants coming into the country.
There will be no legal requirement on the use of Covid-status certification as a condition of entry for visitors to any domestic setting.
As a result of the delay to the final step of the roadmap, the vaccination programme has saved thousands more lives by vaccinating millions more people.
Over 79 million vaccine doses have now been administered in the UK, every adult has now been offered at least one dose, and 64% of adults have received two doses.
The government has also today confirmed the rollout will accelerate further, by reducing the vaccine dose interval for under 40s from 12 weeks to 8. This will mean every adult has the chance to have two doses by mid-September.
The Prime Minister made clear that learning to live with the virus meant cases would continue to rise significantly, even if the success of the vaccination programme meant hospitalisations and deaths will rise at a lower level than during previous peaks.
He set out how cases could rise to 50,000 per day by 19 July, with daily hospital admissions and deaths also rising although more slowly.
The guidance to work from home where possible will also end, to allow employers to start planning a safe return to workplaces.
The cap on the number of named visitors for care home residents will be removed from the current maximum of five per resident, although infection prevention and control measures will remain in place to protect the most vulnerable.
While NHS Test and Trace will continue to play an important role in managing the virus, the PM also signalled the government’s intention to move to a new regime whereby fully vaccinated people would no longer need to self-isolate if identified as a contact. Further details will be set out in due course.
The Education Secretary will also update on new measures for schools and colleges later this week, which will minimise further disruption to education but maintain protection for children.
Proof of vaccination or a negative test will still be required for international travel, with the Prime Minister confirming that the Transport Secretary will provide a further update later this week on removing the need for fully vaccinated arrivals from an amber country to isolate.
PM statement at coronavirus press conference: 5 July 2021
I want to set out what our lives would be like from the 19th of this month – which is only a few days away – if and when we move to step 4 – a decision we will finally take on the 12th – and I want to stress from the outset that this pandemic is far from over and it will certainly not be over by 19th.
As we predicted in the roadmap we’re seeing cases rise fairly rapidly – and there could be 50,000 cases detected per day by the 19th and again as we predicted, we’re seeing rising hospital admissions and we must reconcile ourselves sadly to more deaths from Covid.
In these circumstances we must take a careful and a balanced decision. And there is only one reason why we can contemplate going ahead to step 4 – in circumstances where we’d normally be locking down further – and that’s because of the continuing effectiveness of the vaccine roll-out.
When we paused step 4 a few weeks ago, we had two reasons. First, we wanted to get more jabs into people’s arms – and we have, with over 45 million adults now having received a first dose and 33 million a second.
That is a higher proportion of the adult population of any European country except Malta, and our expectation remains that by July 19 every adult will have had the chance to receive a first dose and two thirds will have received their second dose.
And second, we wanted a bit more time to see the evidence that our vaccines have helped to break the link between disease and death. And as the days have gone by it has grown ever clearer that these vaccines are indeed successful with the majority of those admitted to hospital unvaccinated, and Chris and Patrick will show the data highlighting the greatly reduced mortality that the vaccines have achieved.
So, as we come to the fourth step, we have to balance the risks. The risks of the disease which the vaccines have reduced but very far from eliminated. And the risks of continuing with legally enforced restrictions that inevitably take their toll on people’s lives and livelihoods – on people’s health and mental health.
And we must be honest with ourselves that if we can’t reopen our society in the next few weeks, when we will be helped by the arrival of summer and by the school holidays, then we must ask ourselves when will we be able to return to normal?
And to those who say we should delay again; the alternative is to open up in the winter when the virus will have an advantage or not at all this year.
And so again without pre-empting the decision on 12th July, let me set out today our five-point plan for living with Covid in the hope that it will give families and businesses time to prepare.
First, we will reinforce our vaccine wall, reducing the dose interval for under 40s from 12 weeks to 8, so that everyone over 18 should be double jabbed by mid-September, in addition to our Autumn programme of booster vaccines for the most vulnerable.
Second, we will change the basic tools that we have used to control human behaviour.
We will move away from legal restrictions and allow people to make their own informed decisions about how to manage the virus. From Step 4, we will remove all legal limits on the numbers meeting indoors and outdoors.
We will allow all businesses to re-open, including nightclubs. We will lift the limit on named visitors to care homes, and on numbers of people attending concerts, theatre, and sports events.
We will end the 1 metre plus rule on social distancing, and the legal obligation to wear a face covering, although guidance will suggest where you might choose to do so, especially when cases are rising, and where you come into contact with people you don’t normally meet in enclosed places, such as obviously crowded public transport.
It will no longer be necessary for government to instruct people to work from home, so employers will be able to start planning a safe return to the workplace.
There will be no Covid certificate required as a condition of entry to any venue or event, although businesses and events can certainly make use of certification and the NHS app gives you a Covid pass as one way to show your Covid status.
Third, we will continue from Step 4 to manage the virus with a test, trace and isolate system that is proportionate to the pandemic. You will have to self-isolate if you test positive or are told to do so by NHS Test and Trace.
But we are looking to move to a different regime for fully vaccinated contacts of those testing positive, and also for children. And tomorrow the Education Secretary will announce our plans to maintain key protections but remove bubbles and contact isolation for pupils.
Fourth, from Step 4 we will maintain our tough border controls – including the red list – and recognising the protection afforded by two doses of vaccine, we will work with the travel industry towards removing the need for fully vaccinated arrivals to isolate on return from an amber country and the Transport Secretary will provide a further update later this week.
Last, we will continue to monitor the data and retain contingency measures to help manage the virus during higher risk periods, such as the winter.
But we will place an emphasis on strengthened guidance and do everything possible to avoid re-imposing restrictions with all the costs that they bring.
As we set out this new approach, I am mindful that today is the 73rd anniversary of our National Health Service and there could not be a more fitting moment to pay tribute once again to every one of our NHS and social care workers.
And the best thing we can do to repay their courage and dedication right now is protect ourselves and others and to get those jabs whenever our turn comes.
Jonathan Ashworth MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, responding to the Health Secretary’s statement in the House on the lifting of lockdown restrictions from the 19th July, said: Can I start by paying to tribute, on its 73rd anniversary, to our National Health Service and our extraordinary health and care workforce.
The birthday present the NHS deserves is a fair pay rise not a real terms pay cut for health care workers.
We all want to see restrictions end.
But what he is announcing today isn’t a guarantee that restrictions will end – only what it will look like.
Can he confirm that ending will be based on SAGE advice and the data?
But let’s be clear only 50 per cent of people across England are fully vaccinated and another 17 per cent partially.
Infections continue to rise steeply, hospitalisations are rising.
Inherent in the strategy outlined is an acceptance that infections will surge further, that hospitalisations will increase and we will hit a peak later this summer.
Some of those hospitalised will die.
Thousands – children and younger people – will be left exposed to a virus with no vaccination protection.
Leaving them at risk of long term chronic illness, the personal impacts of which may be felt for years to come.
So as part of his learning to live with Covid strategy: How many deaths does he consider acceptable? How many cases of long Covid does he consider acceptable?
And given we know high circulations of the virus can see it evolve and possibly escape vaccines, what risk assessment has he done of the possibility of a new variant emerging and will he publish it?
The Secretary of State says that every date for unlocking carries risk and we have to learn to live with the virus.
Because we don’t just accept other diseases.
He compares it to flu but flu doesn’t leaves tens of thousands with long term illness.
And we don’t just accept flu, measles, or sexually transmitted infections.
We put in place mitigations so we live in as low a risk way as possible.
Israel has reintroduced its mask mandate because of the Delta variant so why is he planning to bin ours?
Masks don’t restrict freedoms in a pandemic but when so much virus is circulating, they ensure that everyone who goes to the shops or takes public transport can do so safely.
If nobody is masked, Covid risk increases and we’re all less safe; especially those who have been shielding and are anxious.
Why should those who are worried and shielding be shut out of public transport and shops.
That’s not a definition I recognise.
And who else suffers most when masks are removed?
It’s those working in shops, those who drive buses and taxis, it’s low paid workers without access to decent sick pay, many of whom live in overcrowded housing who’ve been savagely disproportionately impacted by this virus from day one.
We heard last week in Greater Manchester that deaths were higher than the average.
So given isolation will still be needed does he think living with the virus means the low paid should be properly supported or does he think they would just game the system as the previous Health Secretary suggested?
Masks are effective because we know the virus is airborne.
He could mitigate further Covid risks by insisting on ventilation standards in premises and crowded buildings. He could offer grants for air filtration systems. Instead all we get is more advice.
Ventilation in buildings and grants to support air filtration systems don’t restrict anyone’s freedoms.
Finally he announced we can all crowd into pubs, meanwhile infection rates in school settings continue to disrupt schooling, with nearly 400,000 children off in one week.
The root cause of this isn’t isolation but transmission.
One in twenty children were off school isolating the week before last.
There are still three weeks of term time left – will he bring back masks in schools, will they be provided with resources for smaller classes, will they get ventilation help and when will adolescents be eligible for vaccination as they are in other countries?
Yesterday he said he believes the best way to protect the nation’s health is to lift all restrictions.
I know he boasts of his student year at Harvard studying pandemics but I think he must have overslept and missed the tutorial on infectious disease control.
Because widespread transmission will not make us healthier.
We’re not out of the woods, we want to see the lockdown end but we need lifesaving mitigation in place.
We still need sick pay, local contact tracing, continued mask wearing, ventilation and support for children to prevent serious illness.
I hope when he returns next week he will have put those measures in place.
Speaking ahead of the Prime Minister’s announcement on the next stage of unlocking, TUC Deputy General Secretary Paul Nowak said: “We all want the economy to unlock as soon as possible. But it is vital that people returning to work have confidence their workplaces are as Covid-secure as possible.
“It is not acceptable for the government to outsource its health and safety responsibilities to individuals and to employers.
“Personal responsibility will have a role to play, but ministers cannot wash their hands of keeping people safe at work.
“With cases rising the government must send out a clear message to employers to play by the rules or face serious action.
“That means publishing clear guidance based on the most up-to-date science and consultations with unions and employers.”
Unite, the UK’s leading union, which represents tens of thousands of public transport workers, is calling on the government to reverse proposals to end the requirement for masks to be worn on buses and trains.
The requirement for passengers to wear masks is particularly sensitive for bus drivers due to the very high numbers who have died of Covid-19.
Unite also believes that restrictions on the maximum capacity of passengers on buses should also remain in place.
Unite national officer for passenger transport Bobby Morton said: “To end the requirement to wear masks on public transport would be an act of gross negligence by the government.
“Rates of infection are continuing to increase and not only does mask wearing reduce transmissions it helps provide reassurance to drivers and to passengers who are nervous about using public transport.
“The idea of personal responsibility and hoping that people will wear masks is absolutely ridiculous, members are already reporting there is an increase in passengers ignoring the rules on mask wearing.
“Until rates of Covid-19 are fully under control, throughout the whole of the UK, the rules on mask wearing on public transport should remain in place.”
Scotland’s SNP Government has made no comment on the Prime Minister’s plans.
Black and minority ethnic (BME) workers are three times more likely than white workers to have lost working hours during the pandemic, according to a new TUC poll published on Friday.
The survey – carried out for the TUC by Britain Thinks – found that around 1 in 11 (9%) BME workers had their normal 35-48 hours a week cut back during the Covid-19 pandemic. Only 1 in 33 (3%) white workers said their working hours were reduced.
Nearly 1 in 8 (13%) BME workers told the TUC that their hours were cut without them requesting it in the last 12 months, compared to 1 in 11 (9%) of white workers. And 1 in 4 (25%) BME workers said they were now working between 1-24 hours a week, compared to 1 in 5 (20%) white workers.
The poll also found that:
Second jobs: BME workers were nearly twice as likely to say they’d had to take on more than one job in the last 12 months than white workers. Around 1 in 14 (7%) BME workers had more than one job during the past year, compared to just 1 in 25 (4%) white workers.
Pressure to go into work: 1 in 5 (20%) BME respondents told the TUC they were worried that if they did not go into their workplace this would impact negatively on their status at work, for example in terms of their job security or their chances of getting a pay rise. Around 1 in 7 (14%) white respondents shared this concern.
Previous TUC analysis revealed that the unemployment rate for BME workers has risen three times as fast as the unemployment rate for white workers during the pandemic.
The BME unemployment rate shot up from 6.3% to 8.9% between the first quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021, an increase of 41%. Over the same period the unemployment rate for white workers rose from 3.6% to 4.1%, an increase of 14%.
Around 1 in 11 (8.9%) BME workers are now unemployed, compared to 1 in 25 (4.1%) of white workers.
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Covid-19 has shone a spotlight on the structural discrimination that has been hidden in our jobs market for too long.
“BME workers have shouldered the burden of the pandemic. They’ve faced the double whammy of being more likely to be working in industries that have been hit hardest by unemployment. And it’s now clear they’ve also have been more likely than white workers to lose hours – and therefore pay. Too many BME workers are having to take on second jobs now just to make ends meet.
“We know that BME workers are more likely to be in low-paid, insecure work with less employment rights. Through the pandemic, many have paid for this discrimination by losing hours, jobs and wages. Tragically, many more have paid with their lives.
“Enough is enough. Everyone deserves a decent job, with decent pay and with decent terms and conditions. Ministers must address this inequality once and for all and challenge the structural discrimination that holds BME workers back at every level of the labour market.”
Chair of the TUC anti-racism task force and NASUWT General Secretary Patrick Roach said: “This latest evidence comes on top of other data showing that Black workers are bearing the brunt of precarious employment, zero-hours contracts and employers using ‘fire and rehire’ to drive down wages.
“With rates of unemployment rising fastest amongst Black workers, we need to see urgent action from the Government to tackle these inequalities and secure a recovery that works for everyone.
“It will also be important that employers consider and are held to account for how their decisions are impacting on Black and White workers.”
The TUC is calling on government to:
Introduce mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting and make employers publish action plans to ensure fair wages for BME workers in the workplace.
Ban zero-hours contractsand strengthen the rights of insecure workers – which will have a disproportionate impact on BME workers.
Publish all the equality impact assessments related to its response to Covid-19 and be transparent about how it considers BME communities in policy decisions.
New TUC analysis shows employment in hard-hit sectors is struggling to recover from the pandemic
Government should delay hiking up business contributions while Covid restrictions are in place – and extend furlough for as long as necessary
Many employers are using furlough flexibly to support a gradual return to business as usual, says TUC
The TUC has warned ministers not to “pull the plug” on the UK’s economic recovery by cutting off support for businesses and workers too soon.
The warning comes as new TUC analysis reveals that employment in hard-hit sectors is struggling to recover from the pandemic.
The analysis shows that just 1 in 8 (110,000) of the 790,000 jobs lost across manufacturing, retail, hospitality and the arts during Covid have been recovered.
By contrast, nearly all the jobs lost in business services and administration – which saw a 220,000 fall in employment – have been recovered.
The union body says ministers must provide ongoing, targeted support for at-risk industries and halt plans to increase furlough contributions for employers while Covid restrictions remain in place.
The analysis also reveals that 6 in 10 workers currently on furlough are working in manufacturing, retail, hospitality and the arts – sectors hit hard by the continuing restrictions.
The TUC fears that if the job retention scheme is ended too abruptly tens of thousands of additional jobs could be lost from these industries.
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Furlough has played a vital role in protecting jobs and keeping businesses running during this pandemic.
“Ministers must not pull the plug on our recovery by cutting off support too soon.
“The government should hold off hiking up employer contributions until all restrictions have been lifted.
“And we need a cast-iron commitment from the chancellor that he will extend furlough for as long as is needed, rather than ending it abruptly in three months’ time.
“Working families need this certainty now – not a rollercoaster approach to protecting livelihoods.”
The TUC highlighted that workers can only be furloughed if their employers decides to use the scheme, meaning that the scheme is well-targeted only to those businesses that need it.
They also note that around two-fifths of furloughed staff (41.6%) are now only furloughed for part of the working week and are working for the rest of it, enabling businesses to use furlough to manage their gradual return to full operations.
The TUC, CBI and Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) yesterday issued a joint call for the government to introduce mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting.
In a joint letter to the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Michael Gove, the heads of the three organisations say: “Introducing mandatory pay reporting on ethnicity would transform our understanding of race inequality at work and most importantly, drive action to tackle it where we find it.”
The letter – signed by TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady, CBI Director General Tony Danker and EHRC chairwoman Baroness Kishwer Falkner – urges ministers to set out a clear timeframe for introducing ethnicity pay gap reporting to help “ethnic minorities reach their full potential in the workplace.”
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Everyone deserves the chance to thrive at work, and to have a decent, secure job they can build a life on. But the sad reality is that even today race still plays a significant role in determining people’s pay and career progression.
“This problem isn’t going to magic itself away. Without robust and urgent action many BME workers will continue to be held back.
“Unions stand ready to work with employers, regulators and government on practical steps to tackle inequality and discrimination in the workplace.
“Mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting is an obvious first step in helping to improve transparency and bring about change.
“We need ministers to commit to introducing ethnicity pay reporting now and to bring forward a clear timetable for getting it into law.”
The full letter reads:
Dear Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The case for mandatory ethnicity pay reporting
We are writing to set out our shared priorities to the inter-ministerial group established to consider the recommendations of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities. Respectively, we represent millions of workers, thousands of businesses, and enforce the Equality Act 2010 in Britain to ensure that people have equal access to and are treated fairly at work.
We agree with the Commission’s statement that the report comes at a pivotal moment for the country, at a time when the inequalities facing ethnic minority people are under scrutiny. Outcomes at work are no exception. However we believe the report’s recommendations, in particular those related to pay disparities, could go further in order to effectively increase the participation and progression of ethnic minorities in the workplace and create a fairer Britain.
Introducing mandatory pay reporting on ethnicity would transform our understanding of race inequality at work and most importantly, drive action to tackle it where we find it. This has been a longstanding goal for all of us. It will enable employers to identify, consider and address the particular barriers facing ethnic minorities in their workplace, and will complement and enhance the work many already do to address gender pay gaps under existing regulations.
Together we’re asking the Government to make it mandatory for employers to report on their ethnicity pay gaps, building on the successful framework already in place for gender. Reporting, done well, can provide a real foundation to better understand and address the factors contributing to pay disparities. To further enable this, we also support the Commission’s recommendation that pay gap data should be supported by a narrative – comprised of key data, relevant findings and actions plans to address race inequalities.
Some employers are already voluntarily reporting on their ethnicity data and taking action to address race inequality in their workplaces. While this is welcome and should continue to be supported in the interim, introducing mandatory ethnicity pay reporting will put greater focus on race at work, contribute to a greater number of employers reporting their ethnicity pay gap figures, and achieve the change across the labour market that is required.
We urge Government to set out a clear timeframe to implement this and encourage you to work with us to develop the tools and resources required to ensure that employers are supported, and that workers are confident in disclosing data in advance of making reporting mandatory.
In so doing, we firmly believe that this will help ethnic minorities reach their full potential in the workplace, make business more inclusive, and ensure Government has a rich source of robust evidence to inform future labour market and industrial strategies.
A third of key workers (33%) say they do not get full sick pay
A quarter of key workers (24%) say they get only £96pw statutory sick pay
Extending sick pay protection to all workers would cost the same as just 1% of the test and trace budget
New analysis published by the TUC shows that one in 12 key workers (788,000 people) do not qualify for statutory sick pay (SSP) – despite many of them being at greater risk from Covid-19 due to the frontline nature of their job.
The analysis uses the same definition of key worker as government. It finds that those excluded from SSP include more than a quarter of cleaners (27%) and retail workers (26%); nearly one in 10 teaching assistants (9%); and over one in 20 care workers (6%).
Additional figures from polling for the TUC by BritainThinks show that, for those who self-identify as key workers in the context of the Covid pandemic, a third (33%) report getting less than full sick pay (below their usual rate of pay); and a quarter (24%) report getting only the minimal protection of SSP at just £96 per week.
The TUC is calling for sick pay to be reformed so that:
The lower earnings limit rule is removed, allowing the lowest paid workers to qualify for statutory sick pay for the first time
The rate of SSP is raised to at least the level of the real living wage (£330 per week).
Research commissioned by the TUC from the Fabian Society shows that the cost of raising SSP to the equivalent of the real Living Wage for employers without an occupational sick pay scheme would be around £110 per employee per year – or just over £2 a week.
The research also shows that removing the lower earnings limit, which prevents those on low earnings from accessing statutory sick pay, would cost employers a maximum of £150m a year. And it would cost the government less than one per cent of the test and trace scheme to support employers with this cost.
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Nobody should have to choose between going into work if they’re sick or should be self-isolating, or doing the right thing by staying home, but facing hardship as a result. But that’s the choice facing many key workers who kept the country going during the pandemic.
“Our key workers deserve the dignity, security and safety of proper sick pay and a decent pay rise too. They have earned it, often in frontline jobs with much greater risk of infection than those who could work from home.
“The cost of fixing the UK’s broken sick pay system is small compared to other public health measures like test and trace. Ministers must urgently make every worker eligible for statutory sick pay. And it should be worth at least as much as the real Living Wage.”
The Fabian Society report Statutory Sick Pay: Options for reform is available here:
The TUC has called for long Covid to be urgently recognised as a disability and Covid-19 as an occupational disease, to give workers access to legal protections and compensation.
The call comes as the TUC publishes an in-depth report on workers’ experiences of long Covid during the pandemic.
More than 3,500 workers responded to a TUC survey on the impact of long Covid on people’s daily working lives.
The survey reveals that, of those surveyed:
Nearly 3 in 10 (29 per cent) have experienced symptoms lasting longer than a year.
More than 9 in 10 (95 per cent) have been left with ongoing symptoms.
A clear majority had experienced side effects including brain fog (72 per cent), shortness of breath (70 per cent), difficulty concentrating (62 per cent) and memory problems (54 per cent).
Over half (52 per cent) had experienced some form of discrimination or disadvantage due to their condition.
The report highlights how frontline workers have been disproportionately affected by long Covid.
Over three-quarters (79 per cent) of those who responded to the TUC’s survey identify themselves as key workers, with the majority working in either education or health and social care.
More than two-thirds (68 per cent) of respondents were women.
Long Covid in the workplace
The report reveals the extent of discrimination in the workplace towards those with long Covid.
Over half (52 per cent) of respondents said they had experienced some form of discrimination or disadvantage due to their condition.
Workers told the TUC how they were faced with disbelief and suspicion when they disclosed their symptoms:
Around a fifth (19 per cent) said their employer had questioned the impact of their symptoms.
One in eight (13 per cent) faced questions from their employer about whether they had long Covid at all.
One in 20 respondents (5 per cent) said they had been forced out of their jobs altogether because they had long Covid.
Respondents described the difficulties that they faced trying to work while experiencing a range of long Covid symptoms.
One person – who contracted Covid-19 at work – said that when their employer went ahead with an international event in the first wave of the pandemic: “I was still expected to work long hours, handle stressful situations in impossible timeframes, find and fill in forms (which I struggled to do because of cognitive issues), and spend hours on Zoom calls when I struggled to talk and breathe, resulting in extreme chest pain, shortness of breath, exhaustion and severe symptom relapses.”
Respondents were also concerned about what the future might hold for them at work given the amount of sick leave they had been forced to take due to their long Covid symptoms.
Around one in six respondents (18 per cent) said the amount of sick leave they had taken had triggered absence management or HR processes.
New rights and protections for those with long Covid
The TUC is calling for the government to urgently recognise long Covid as a disability under the Equality Act.
The Equality Act 2010 defines disability as a “physical or mental impairment…[that] has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on [their] ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities”. Government guidance makes clear that ‘long-term’ means 12 months or more.
The TUC says that many who have long Covid already meet this criteria and should therefore be protected under the law rather than forced to go through the stress of employment tribunals.
Extending Equality Act 2010 protections so they cover workers with long Covid would ensure employers cannot legally discriminate against them. It would also put a duty on employers to make reasonable adjustments that remove, reduce or prevent any disadvantages workers with long Covid face, as for any other enduring condition or disability.
In addition, the union body is calling on ministers to recognise Covid-19 as an occupational disease – entitling employees and their dependents to protection and compensation if they contracted the virus while working.
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Many of the workers who have carried us through the pandemic are now living with debilitating symptoms of long Covid. And we’re beginning to hear troubling stories of a massive wave of discrimination against people with long Covid.
“It’s time to recognise this condition properly – and make sure workers who are living with long Covid get the support they need to do their jobs.
“Long Covid must be recognised as a disability. That would mean workers are protected by the Equality Act, and would have a right to get reasonable adjustments at work.
“And Covid-19 should be designated as an occupational disease. That would allow workers who contracted Covid-19 at work and are living with the consequences to claim the compensation they are due.
“Employers must also act. They should make sure they make reasonable adjustments for workers with long Covid, and complete specific risk assessments to make sure workers with long Covid are safe at work.”
Lesley Macniven, Chair of the Long Covid Support Group, who worked with the TUC on its report, said: “Even those with ‘mild’ Covid can suffer daily with fluctuating symptoms, exhausted and alone. Promises we’ll ‘just get better’ have been proved otherwise.
“A year on we need legally enforceable guidance for employers and government – informed by unions, occupational health and patient groups with significant lived experience managing long Covid.
“Patients need time to convalesce, then recuperate through a very gradual, flexible phased return to work, over months, to achieve a sustainable return.
“Long Covid is disabling young, previously healthy workers. This key step is needed to take the effects of long Covid seriously, enable rehabilitation and protect dedicated workers from discrimination due to poor understanding of the condition.”
Employers claim just 2.5% of working-age Covid deaths are from exposure to Coronavirus at work
System for reporting workplace deaths and infections is “letting bad bosses off the hook”, says TUC
Under-reporting has badly undermined health and safety regulation and enforcement during the pandemic
The number of people who have died from exposure to Covid at work is being “massively under-reported” by employers, according to a new TUC report published yesterday (Sunday).
The report highlights a huge discrepancy between Covid work-related deaths reported by employers and data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and Public Health England.
Between April 2020 and April 2021 the ONS reported that 15,263 people of working age died from Covid. But according to reports filed by employers just 387 (2.5 per cent) of these deaths came from workers contracting Covid at work.
The union body says this under-reporting has badly undermined health and safety regulation enforcement during the pandemic with employers less likely to face action from regulators for putting staff at risk.
Under-reporting in at-risk sectors
The TUC’s report shows that in sectors with high numbers of deaths during the pandemic – like food production and transport – only a small fraction of deaths have been reported as work-related by employers.
Figures from the ONS show that between March 2020 and December 2020 more than 600 people working in the transport sector died.
But according to reports filed by employers (over the longer period of April 2020 to April 2021) just 10 deaths in the transport sector were work-related.
And figures from the ONS show that 63 food production workers died between March 2020 and December 2020.
But according to data supplied by employers (over the longer period of April 2020 to April 2021) just three of these deaths were the result of work.
The TUC believes the true number of work-related deaths in these and other sectors are much higher, especially considering the high number of breaches of safety protocols we have seen during the pandemic and the high numbers of outbreaks.
Reporting system “letting bad bosses off the hook”
Employers are required by law to report deaths, injuries and illnesses that take place at work or in connection with work.
This is done through a mechanism called RIDDOR (The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013) which logs work-related deaths, illnesses and injuries for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
But under the current reporting system employers are given “free rein” to decide whether a Covid-19 diagnosis is the result of occupational exposure or from exposure outside of work premises.
The TUC says this loophole has led to employers not reporting the true scale of Covid work-related deaths and infections to the HSE, despite this information being vital to containing the spread of the virus.
Enforcement crisis
The TUC says that for the HSE to do its job effectively it must possess an accurate and up-to-date picture of where and when work-related deaths and infections are taking place.
But during the pandemic it has only been provided with very partial information from employers.
This has prevented the HSE from carrying out potentially urgent inspections and ensuring employers take the necessary action to keep workers and the public safe, says the report.
TUC analysis shows that just 1 in 218 workplaces has been inspected by the HSE (between March 2020 and April 2021) and not one single employer has been prosecuted for putting staff at risk.
The union body says this “crisis of regulation and enforcement” has allowed bad bosses to get away with flagrant labour rights abuses – adding that the pandemic has highlighted Britain’s enforcement system’s long-standing deficiencies.
New approach needed to health and safety
As well as calling for improvements in the way work-related delated deaths and infections are reported, the union body says government must reverse cuts to the HSE of the past decade, which it says left the country “under-prepared and vulnerable” to the pandemic.
The last ten years has seen real term cuts of 50 per cent to the HSE budget, on top of local authority budgets being slashed.
There has also been a dramatic decline in inspections. There were 27 per cent fewer HSE inspections carried out in the UK in 2019 than 2011, amounting to a fall of over 5,700 a year.
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Everybody deserves to be safe at work. But this pandemic has exposed a crisis in health and safety regulation and enforcement.
“Employers have massively under-reported Covid work-related deaths and infections. This has made it much harder for regulators to track where outbreaks are happening and allowed bad bosses to get away with flagrant labour rights abuses.
“It’s staggering that not a single employer has been prosecuted for putting workers at risk of contracting Covid-19.
“The government must fix the deficiencies in how workplace deaths, illnesses and injuries are reported. The current system is letting bosses off the hook.
“And ministers must fund enforcement bodies properly so they can recruit and train qualified workplace inspectors, inspect more workplaces, and prosecute companies who don’t keep their workers safe.”
