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Gloucestershire Business News

John Lewis won't cut sick pay for unjabbed

Retailer John Lewis, with a store in Cheltenham, has announced it won't be treating unjabbed staff any differently when it comes to Covid-related absences.

In a controversial move, other retailers including Ikea , Next and Ocado have said they will only pay the legal minimum sick pay to anyone who has to self-isolate because of exposure to someone who has tested positive for Covid.

But, taking to the social media site LinkedIn, Andrew Murphy, executive director for operation at John Lewis, said: "At the John Lewis Partnership we're not going to make any change of this type."

He added that the company has been 'hugely supportive' of the UK Covid vaccination programme. John Lewis has given time off to all Partners wanting to get a jab and provided its sports hall in Bracknell to the NHS for use as a vaccination centre.

He said: "We just don't believe it's right to create a link between a Partner's vaccination status and the pay they receive."

Retailers, and other businesses, have been under enormous pressure because of the high number of staff testing positive and having to self-isolate, even if they are not suffering any outward symptoms of disease.

Andrew Murphy writes: "When life increasingly seems to present opportunities to create division - and with hopes rising that the pandemic phase of Covid may be coming to an end - we're confident that this is the right approach for us."

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