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I'm not an employment law expert but, having read Section 44 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and also consulted the 'Selwyn's Law of Employment' textbook, I unfortunately can't see how the law provides an easy out for people to miss work due to Covid-19. 1/6
The act refers to several situations in which an employee should not suffer "detriment" as a result of an employer's actions (or lack of actions) to protect their safety. Employees can, in certain cases, leave or refuse to return to work to avoid employer-caused detriment. 2/6
A situation where this *could* apply (I'm speculating): a hospital cleaner refuses to clean a ward of Covid-19 patients because they have not been given adequate PPE and they *reasonably believe* that sustained, unprotected exposure to the virus would cause them detriment. 3/6
Even then, I'm not entirely sure; the act says that the employee must be "in circumstances of danger in which he reasonably believed to be serious and imminent". I think "serious and imminent" here could cause problems in the above example. 4/6
So, the law does not say that you can just walk out of work. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
As @BrummieAsif says here, phone a union before you do anything. And make sure you *join* a union, too! 5/6 https://twitter.com/BrummieAsif/status/1259601917195571201
As @BrummieAsif says here, phone a union before you do anything. And make sure you *join* a union, too! 5/6 https://twitter.com/BrummieAsif/status/1259601917195571201
DISCLAIMER: no part of this thread should be construed or acted upon as legal advice. I am a law student trying to offer clearer insight into something which could potentially cause many workers trouble. Comments and clarity from employment lawyers would certainly be welcome. 6/6
