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Student ID: 180177042
Module: LAW6027 Employment Law
Coursework Title: Covid-19 Pandemic, employees and workers
Word count 1650
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part from any other published source.
, The Covid-19 pandemic is still very much making its presence felt in the UK. Discuss
the effect that this pandemic is having now on employees and workers and the legacy it
is likely to leave when the UK returns to some sort of normality.
Please refer to legislation, case law and current affairs as appropriate.
The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in the UK having one of the worst economic conditions and
is likely to have one of the slowest recoveries 1. Businesses were forced to close as a result of
The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) Regulations 2020, regulations 4 and 5,
which were enacted under the authority of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984.
These regulations went into effect in March 2020. The pandemic is still prevalent and affects
everyone’s lives a year on. The shutdown of businesses and work from home requirements
resulted in employees and workers unable to work as per normal. This essay will explore the
ways in which the pandemic is affecting employees and workers, both positively and
negatively, and the legacy it may leave behind.
An employee, as defined by the Employment Rights Act 1996, s230(1), is “an individual who
has entered into or works under … a contract of employment.” Whereas a worker, known as
‘limb b workers’, as defined by the Employment Rights Act, S.230(3)(b), includes “any
other contract … whereby the individual undertakes to do or perform personally any work or
services for another party to the contract whose status is not … that of a client or customer”.
The big difference between both statuses is that of limited protection offered to workers in
comparison to employees. This difference has proven to be crucial midst the pandemic. One
right not afforded to workers is the protection from dismissal when concerned about health
and safety2. Workers are only protected in this regard if they blow the whistle 3. However,
recently the High Court4 has ruled that the UK failed to properly implement the EU Health
and Safety Framework Directive (89/391/EC) by not extending protection from detriment on
health and safety grounds to workers. Some of the other rights not afforded to workers are the
right to redundancy pay and the right not to be unfairly dismissed.
The pandemic is now beginning to narrow these differences between employees and workers
and eliminate the significant effects of the pandemic on them. Firstly, agency workers and
those on zero-hour contracts are also entitled to statutory sick pay 5, provided they are
isolating or have been told to isolate. A difficulty with this is that those who are not earning
above the lower earnings limit from one employer are not eligible for the sick pay. This
disproportionately affects the BAME community of workers. In addition, the sick pay is very
low. Secondly, for the first time, following the Low Pay Commission’s (“LPC”)
recommendations6, in April 2021, workers aged 23+ will be entitled to national living wage 7.
Previously, only those 25+ were entitled. This change was brought after the LPC observed
1
Ewing and Hendy, ‘Covid-19 and the Failure of Labour Law: Part 1’(2020) Ind Law J 49 (4): 497,
<https://www-lexisnexis-com.ezproxy.library.qmul.ac.uk/uk/legal/docview/getDocForCuiReq?
lni=61SY-9KJ3-GXFD-82D2&csi=302221&oc=00240&perma=true&elb=t>
2
Employment Rights Act 1996, s44 and s100
3
Ibid, s47B and s103A
4
The Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain, R (on the application of) v The Secretary of State
for Work and Pensions & Ors [2020] EWHC 3050 (Admin)
5
ACAS, ‘Checking sick pay’ <https://www.acas.org.uk/checking-sick-pay/statutory-sick-pay-ssp>
6
Low Pay Commission, ‘A Review of the…National Minimum Wage’ (Nov, 2019)
<https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/
845076/A_Review_of_the_Youth_Rates_of_the_National_Minimum_Wage.pdf> pg 53, 7.2
