UK's most vulnerable people at risk of losing 60% of their income

A loophole in government guidance has caused some of the country’s most vulnerable people to lose up to 60% of their income and is now forcing many to put their health at risk as lockdown comes to an end, one of the UK’s biggest charities has warned.

Around 2.5 million UK residents, hundreds of thousands of whom are in employment, have been identified by the government as being “extremely clinically vulnerable”. They were ordered to shield at home until the end of June, although their employers did not have to furlough them.

Research by Citizens Advice found that of the 2,000 people contacting them for help who were either shielding or at higher risk from coronavirus, over 70% had not been furloughed.

The research also found that more than one in 10 of the shielded group were working outside the home, including people who had undergone organ transplants or who had serious lung conditions.

Dame Gillian Guy, chief executive of Citizens Advice, said: “People who are shielding have a right to be furloughed while their health is at risk [otherwise] some will face an impossible choice: paying the bills or protecting their health.”

Faye, a care home worker, has to shield because she has blood cancer. She is currently furloughed but is expected back at work on 19 June. “I watch the daily broadcast every single night waiting for something, but I’ve heard nothing about people with illnesses who work,” she said. “I don’t know which way to turn: do I go back to work and take the chance?”

Around 2,000 people have bought employment cases through Citizens Advice since lockdown began. More than a quarter of those shielding had lost 60% of their income since the coronavirus outbreak began. Four in 10 have lost at least 20%.

Some had been denied access to the furlough scheme. Others were initially furloughed but have since been asked to return to frontline roles as shop workers and delivery drivers, and felt unable to refuse.

The government has told charities and social enterprise employers that when it brings the coronavirus job retention scheme to a close, there will be no exemption for vulnerable workers.

Sarah, a mother of two, has been told her three-year-old daughter must shield due to asthma and allergies. Sarah is currently furloughed from work at a preschool, but has been told she will have to take unpaid leave if she does not return to work when it opens on 1 June.

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“I’ve basically been told to choose between my daughter’s health or keeping food on the table,” she said. “It’s stressful. I can’t concentrate, I can’t sleep, I can hardly eat.”

Those who come under Public Health England’s shielding guidance are only entitled to statutory sick pay. Employers have no legal obligation to furlough an employee who is shielding.

Debbie Nolan, health programme lead at Citizens Advice Liverpool, coordinates calls with people in the shielded group to check on their wellbeing. She said: “We’ve seen a surge in concerns about health and safety over the past two weeks as people with serious medical conditions, and those they live with, are asked to return to work.”

The Department for Work and Pensions has been contacted for comment.