An Edinburgh woman has started a petition to make statutory sick pay available to all; it comes after WHO upgraded the coronavirus outbreak to a global pandemic.
The petition was started amid fears that the deadly spread of COVID-19, which has already killed 8 people in the UK, will require more Britons to self isolate.
Currently UK workers who need to self isolate will only be eligible for sick pay if they earn over £118 a week.
Florence Russell, from Marchmont, wants to change this and is urging people to sign a petition, to remove the minimum earning threshold for SSP.
RBS, recently announced that they will offering customers a three month repayment holiday, if the are affected by the coronavirus outbreak, however it is not yet known if they will be any relief for renters.
The petition to "Remove the minimum earnings threshold for statutory sick pay" currently has 237 signatures, and will need to reach 10,000 to be debated in parliament.
The petition raises the issue that there are currently, "two million people who work low income jobs or zero hours contracts with no financial support available to them."
Florence said: "It shouldn't take a national epidemic to spark debates about fairer sick pay, but the coronavirus has brought attention to the pitiful working conditions of those on zero hours contracts or people who earn under the minimum earnings threshold (£118 per week).
"Even those who qualify for SSP are only entitled to £94 pounds per week, roughly a quarter of the National Living Wage."Florence told Edinburgh Live why she started the petition saying:
"I’ve started a petition, calling on the government to remove this barrier to accessing SSP, in the hope that it will at least draw attention to the fact that self-isolation and taking time off can be simply unaffordable for an estimated 2 million workers who earn under the minimum earnings threshold.
"Boris and the Chancellor just aren't putting themselves in the shoes of low income workers on zero hours contracts, and yesterday’s budget announcement has done very little to help them. Fair sick pay should be available to all those who need to self isolate.
If this is something you are passionate about you can sign the petition here.
