Matt Hancock’s reported comments (Matt Hancock wants to use NHS testing system to fight flu after Covid, 24 November) that people should not struggle into work when ill should be commended. However, this is a relatively recent conversion. As a lay rep in a public sector union, I remember clearly that Hancock, as cabinet office minister, had ultimate responsibility for the decision to impose ever more draconian measures to deal with attendance management in the civil service. If you stayed in bed every time you had a cold, something he now seems to suggest, you would be subject to disciplinary procedures.
I hope he has now changed his views. A better society would be one in which no worker is made ill by the work they do. If the global pandemic is to have any positive legacy, then outlawing punitive attendance management policies would be a good start. Adherence in all sectors to working time directives, and restoring funding for local authorities and the Health and Safety Executive to ensure that every workplace is inspected regularly should follow. I am not convinced that this will be on the government’s agenda.
Julian Wilson
Tonbridge, Kent
