Nissan workers used fake alerts to blag time off in Britain’s first pingdemic swindle.
We can reveal up to 60 staff at the Japanese car giant’s Sunderland plant were hauled through disciplinaries over the ruse.
Sources claim a screenshot of a worker’s genuine self-isolation alert on the NHS app was passed among colleagues, who claimed they too needed to quarantine.
One member of staff explained: “Workers have been using other people’s screenshots to get time off work.
“They sent their gaffer a screenshot from the Covid app that wasn’t even from their phone.”
Another added: “One lad was pinged in the pub to say he had to self-isolate.
“He sent the message to his line manager, it ended up being sent to another 59 employees at Nissan who wanted some time off.
“Nissan heard about this and they are furious.”
The plant had been hit by a crippling staff shortage triggered by the NHS Test & Trace app with 900 employees - around 15% of its workforce - stuck indoors last week.
But the Japanese car-maker confirmed it had disciplined a “small number” of workers for faking pings.
Another source said the dodge had been used to secure days off to watch England matches at the Euros.
Nissan, which closed for a two-week summer shutdown on Friday, said it could not confirm the precise number involved last night.
A spokeswoman estimated it as “low double figures”.
The company confirmed: “A small number of our staff have been disciplined after breaking Covid-19 rules”.
Hundreds of workers at the factory, which PM Boris Johnson visited earlier this month, were legitimately forced to isolate this month after coming into contact with a positive case.
Nissan revealed production in some areas of its plant had to be “adjusted” because of reduced staffing levels.
