New government Covid guidance encourages a ‘race to the bottom’ on workers’ rights, says Co-operatives UK

Rose Marley, CEO of Co-operatives UK, said: “During the pandemic, businesses have faced ongoing challenges in how best to look after the health and wellbeing of their employees and customers. By removing the legal requirement on self-isolation and now further diluting its guidance in favour of ‘personal responsibility’, the Government has shifted the burden onto employers who must deal with the health and safety implications of having employees with Covid returning to the workplace.

“Businesses are being left to make their own judgement calls on how they negotiate these health and safety issues with their staff and customers. The danger is that this will encourage a race to the bottom, where co-operatives and other responsible and ethical businesses that continue to put provisions in place to protect their people against Covid-19 will face a cost burden, while other employers will face no such penalty as their staff and customers are made less safe.

"We urge government to look again at its guidance and how it can better support businesses to deal with the continued uncertainty around Covid in a way that is fair to employees and business.”