Single mother, 36, defends going to work with Covid symptoms

Single mother, 36, who went to work with Covid symptoms and later tested positive defends going into the office because she can’t afford a day off after her monthly food bill tripled to £300

• Emma Smith, 36, said the cost of living crisis means she cannot afford to be sick
• Office assistant went into work with Covid symptoms and tested positive 

A single mother has defended going into work with Covid because she said she cannot afford to take a day off.

Emma Smith, 36, from Cambridgeshire, said the cost of living crisis has made taking sickness leave a financial burden.

The office assistant said her monthly food bill has tripled to £300 and her gas and electricity prices have soared.

Those costs on top of childcare means taking a day off would leave her out of pocket, she claimed.

She also said she does not get sick pay as she is contracted through an agency and does not meet the qualifying conditions, and is unable to work from home.

Emma Smith, 36, from Cambridgeshire, said the cost of living crisis has made taking sickness leave a financial burden

The single mother went into work while feeling ill and came back with a positive Covid test. She has been asked not to return until she tests negative but isn’t eligible for SSP

Ms Smith said her bills have skyrocketed over the last year, including her monthly food and energy costs, meaning she can’t afford to miss out on pay

After going to work on February 13 while feeling ill with Covid-19 symptoms, the mother said: ‘I knew I was sick. I didn’t want to go to work and make people sick.

Statutory Sick Pay (SSP): What is it and who qualifies for it? 

Employees can get £96.35 per week Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) if they are too ill to work.

This is the minimum, but some employers choose to offer more than this amount.

To qualify for SSP, workers must be classed as an employee and have done ‘some work’ for their employer; earn an average of at least £120 per week; and have been ill or self-isolating for at least four days in a row, including non-working days.

Some agency workers are entitled to SSP, depending on whether they are classified as employed, a worker or self-employed.

SSP could be lost if workers do not tell their employers that they are unable to work before the deadline they set – or within seven days if they have not set one.

The maximum allowance for SSP is 28 weeks, and those who are getting Statutory Maternity Pay do not qualify.

‘But it was half term and I have just started a new job. I don’t have the luxury to call into work and say I am sick.’

Despite downplaying her symptoms and sitting in a corner of the office away from colleagues, Emma said she was asked to do a Covid test which came back positive.

She was asked not to return to work until she had a negative test, she said. 

The rules around statutory sick pay (SSP) for Covid infections changed in March last year.

Ms Smith said: ‘I thought I could sit in the corner. I thought I would sit out of the way.

‘We are not in a pandemic anymore and there was no rules at work.

‘[They] told me not to come back until I am better. I don’t get sick pay – so I was just sat at home sick and not getting paid.’

The mother said her bills have skyrocketed over the last year, with her monthly food bill going from £100 to £300.

She also pays £120 a month for gas and electricity, which she said is an increase of £75 on her previous tariff.

Ms Smith added: ‘I live in a two-bedroom apartment. I am paying £20 a day for my son to go to childcare this week.

‘That is half of what I would earn in a day. This crisis has taken the joy out of parenting because of how stressful it is.

‘My son is seven, and that is meant to be a wonderful age to raise a child. I wanted to go to work as I wanted to be able to treat my son.

‘The joy of parenting is being sucked out, it is now a struggle.’

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