Morrisons is cutting sick pay for unvaccinated workers who need to self-isolate.

According to the Guardian, David Potts, the Chief Executive of Morrisons, said the pay changes were among a number of strategies Morrisons was using to mitigate cost rises from shortages of HGV drivers, supply chain disruption and the growing wholesale prices of commodities, including beef and wheat-based products such as bread.

Potts said Morrisons was tackling the “biblical costs of managing COVID” after being on the “front foot” in helping workers stay safe during the pandemic. “We are normalising some of those policies,” he said, citing cutting sick pay for unvaccinated workers who needed to self-isolate as a good example.

He said the move was also intended to encourage workers to get themselves vaccinated.

Harper James Solicitors commented that this seems like a bold move on Morrisons’ part, and not an easy policy to introduce. Said the firm:

“One of the initial thoughts on every reader’s mind must be ‘Can Morrisons legally do this?’ Well, possibly, but it is fraught with pitfalls for the supermarket chain, and they will need to jump through some hoops. The business will also need to have a number of exemptions from the policy for it to be lawful.”

Harper James suggests that the key problems Morrisons will face are:

• Potential indirect discrimination (when an employer applies a policy or criteria to everyone but it disadvantages a protected group). By saying that no employee will get company sick pay if they are sick with COVID-19 and are not vaccinated, this disadvantages certain employees with protected characteristics. A good example of this is employees with health conditions who have been advised against getting the vaccine. To not pay these employees company sick pay would likely be disability discrimination. There would also be good arguments for discrimination on the grounds of religion/belief, race, maternity and even sex discrimination.
• Potential breach of human rights.
• Consultation may be needed with unions and/or employee representatives to be able to legally introduce the change to the sick pay policy.
• There are also practical issues of implementing this, including obtaining proof of vaccination and the data protection issues that this raises.

Says Harper James:

“There is little doubt that Morrisons will have a team of lawyers and will understand the risks of introducing such a policy. However, any business looking to make drastic changes to their company policies due to COVID-19, or otherwise, should certainly seek professional advice first to protect their business.”