Care home workers are being denied sick pay if they are self-isolating, with some avoiding being tested for Covid-19 due to money worries, union leaders have claimed.
Deborah Clarke, head of community at Unison, insisted it was "disgraceful" that bosses were not complying with laws requiring care home staff to be paid if sick or self-isolating.
She said: "Many care home staff who test positive are left in a position where they can't feed their families - and that stops them coming forward for testing. That puts them, their families and residents at risk."
The Scottish Governmen t set up the Social Care Staff Support Fund in a bid to ensure social care workers do not experience financial hardship if they are ill or self-isolating due to coronavirus, with a commitment to remiburse employers if they continue to pay workers their normal wages.
But Unison claimed some care home operators are refusing the pay staff the money they are owed until they get the cash back from the Scottish Government.
The union raised its concerns in a submission to MSPs on the Scottish Parliament's Covid-19 committee
Ms Clarke said: "It's disgraceful that so many employers are refusing to comply with the coronavirus emergency legislation.
"There is no excuse for employers to delay paying out to care staff who are sick or isolating. This is something Unison fought hard for.
"Care staff have been struggling to pay bills, while certain employers have refused to pay them a penny extra they were promised, until they get the money from the Government. "
She insisted: "All employers must appreciate that self isolating is responsible behaviour which protects residents. Employers have a moral obligation to pay their staff properly while they are off sick rather than paying them the absolute minimum until they are reimbursed.
"Care home employers handle multi-million-pound budgets but claim that they don't understand the principle that staff should not be out of pocket when sick."
A Scottish Government spokesman said: "Social care staff provide critical and valuable support to many people across our society every day - now more than ever during the Covid-19 pandemic.
"While the Scottish Government is not an employer of care staff, we are clear that social care workers should not suffer financial hardship because their employer terms and conditions do not meet fair work principles.
"That's why we established the Social Care Staff Support Fund.
"We ask employers to pay their staff their expected income if they are ill or self-isolating as a result of coronavirus and the Cabinet Secretary wrote to care home managers recently asking them to support staff to undertake testing and to access the fund for additional costs incurred.
"If staff are not being paid correctly, we ask employers to rectify this straight away, and then claim from the fund.
"All operators of care homes should support their staff to be able to isolate if they test positive for Covid-19.
"Any other course of action would potentially jeopardise the lives of their residents."
