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The legal view: Covid-19 and your workplace rights
The coronavirus has conclusively settled one argument: workers’ rights are a public health issue — and British labour law is not fit for purpose, write KEITH EWING and LORD JOHN HENDY QC

WORKPLACE rights have been crucial from the very beginning of the pandemic, as arguments raged about workers being expected to self-isolate on statutory sick pay for £95 a week — the price of a bottle of wine in some households. It was evident in the government’s failure to provide PPE for front-line workers, many of whom then became infected and some of whom died.  

And it is evident now as we watch the unfolding disaster of the testing regime, with workers once again expected to self-isolate without wages being guaranteed.   

Covid-19 has also conclusively demonstrated that British labour law is not fit for purpose and has failed those it is designed to protect.

  • It has failed to provide income security for the ill, to
  • protect the health and safety of front-line staff, or
  • meaningful job security for all workers.
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