Test and trace at risk of failure because four in 10 can’t pay bills if forced to self-isolate, TUC warns
Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The NHS test and trace system is at risk of failing because four in 10 workers would be plunged into financial hardship if they had to self-isolate on Statutory Sick Pay, a poll suggests. Millions of people are only eligible for Statutory Sick Pay of £95.85 a week, an amount that health secretary Matt Hancock admitted in March that he would not be able to live on. "The government is outsourcing its moral responsibility to workers who want to do the right thing but know that if they do go on statutory sick pay they will be making their families pay a price," Ms O'Grady said. "Even when ministers admit that they couldn't do it themselves, months later, nothing has been done and we've got two million workers who do not earn enough to even qualify for Statutory Sick Pay.
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