Black and ethnic minority staff at greater risk of Covid exposure than white employees, union says
The IndependentBlack and ethnic minority staff are more likely to be exposed to the coronavirus at work than white workers – and are thus more likely to lose out on pay while self-isolating, a new study suggests. Union leaders said the research added to the mounting evidence that black and ethnic minority workers are facing both greater health risks and greater financial hardship during the pandemic. Some 50 per cent of white workers say their employer has carried out a Covid risk assessment, compared with 36 per cent of black and ethnic minority staff, according to the survey of 2,200 workers. She added: “BME workers, and all workers, should be entitled to decent sick pay when they have to self-isolate, and to safe workplaces.” TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “BME workers are more likely to be exposed to the virus, less likely to work in Covid-secure workplaces and therefore more likely to be plunged into hardship if they have to self-isolate.” The TUC have called for more generous and consistent support for self-isolators, describing it as a “gaping hole in the government’s Covid strategy”.