Employees who self-isolate due to Covid can be furloughed and get better wages, according to a little-known rule.
This is because many employees forced to self-isolate have been claiming statutory sick pay (SSP) rather than the more generous furlough payments.
SSP is at least £96.35 a week if a worker has been off for more than four days, whereas the furlough scheme pays 80% of wages up to £2,500 a month.
Worse, many employees may have ignored their symptoms and worked anyway to get their full pay packet - putting the health of others at risk.
Workers now self-isolate for up to 10 days, but this was a maximum of 14 days until December 2020.
The Treasury did not draw attention to the rule because it could mean paying out more under the furlough scheme, according to magazine Politico.
Around 4.2 million workers are still on the furlough scheme, officially known as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. It has paid out £64billion so far.
A Whitehall source told Politico: “The penny-pinching Treasury refusing to make it clear in their guidance that employers could furlough self-isolating staff had clear public health consequences.
“It resulted in more people with Covid symptoms going into work due to the very low sick leave payment.
“This led to greater transmission of the virus at the beginning of the year when hospitals were slammed and the average ambulance waiting time was over two hours.”
Workers who develop symptoms or self-isolate should remind their employer that they have a right to be furloughed.
Government advice on the issue has been mixed.
Its guidance does say that "short term illness or self-isolation should not be a consideration when deciding if you’ll be furloughed".
But it also says: "if employers want to furlough employees for business reasons and they are currently off sick, they are eligible to do so, as with other employees. In these cases, the employee should no longer receive sick pay and would be classified as a furloughed employee."
The Treasury spokesperson said it was not trying to hide anything.
They said: "It has always been clear that the purpose of the furlough scheme is to support jobs - we've been upfront about that from the start.
"If an employer wants to furlough an employee for business reasons and they are currently off sick then they are eligible to do so as with other employees. This has been set out in guidance since April last year."
Regardless, employees have little time left to make use of the news. The government said this week it would not extend the furlough scheme, which will be wound down from July 1.
From July, government contributions will fall to 70% up to £2,187.50, and employers will pay 10%.
They then fall to 60% in August and September, up to £1,875 a month, with employers paying 20%, before the scheme ends.
