Can you be furloughed if you have to shield?
People who have been told to shield are advised to speak to their employer about working from home.
It may be that an employer will allow an employee to take on a different role temporarily to enable them to work from home.
However, if an employer cannot find work for their employee at home, there are alternative avenues of support that can be explored.
The Government website explains an employer may be able to furlough their employee if they have to shield and cannot work from home.
The website states: “If you cannot make alternative arrangements, your employer may be able to furlough you under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which has been extended until the end of April 2021.
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A letter to GPs from NHS England said a “new data-driven risk assessment has been developed to help identify people who may be at risk from Covid-19”.
The letter adds: “It has been used at a national level to help identify an additional group of patients with specific multiple risk factors which, combined, may put them at similar risk to those who are clinically extremely vulnerable to severe outcomes.
“As a precautionary measure, this group will now be added to the shielded patient list (SPL) on the advice of the chief medical officer.”
Dr Jenny Harries said: “We have a new, evidence-based, data-driven, predictive risk model which allows us to identify adults with multiple risk factors that make them more vulnerable to COVID-19.
“Of course, if an employee is able to work from home (and is fit to do so), they can continue to work while in isolation and should be paid in the normal way.
“Self-isolation should be distinguished from shielding – those who are shielding are eligible to be placed on furlough leave.”
Nicola Gater, HR Consultant at Reality HR, similarly told Express.co.uk that furlough “is not intended to cover short term absences such as isolation or short-term sickness absence”.
Ms Gater said: “Workers who are self-isolating should be paid Statutory Sick Pay, or paid under their company’s sick pay scheme if it has one.