Self isolating - no pay

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My DH works full-time and is entitled to 12 weeks sick pay at his normal rate per year. He had a letter from work yesterday saying if they are self isolating then they will only get statutory sick pay. If they are ill themselves with coronavirus or anything else they will need a sick note. Are they within their rights to do this? Surely the doctors are busy enough without issuing sick notes.

From the Government website..

"Will I get paid if I self-isolate in this way?
Provisions for sick leave vary from company to company.
Many employees will have contracts that allow them their normal pay while they are unable to work because they are sick.
But the situation with self-isolation is more complicated - workers may not actually be sick so will not automatically be entitled to their contractual sick pay. That decision will be down to employers but the employment conciliation service Acas said it was "good practice" to offer contractual sick pay.
Even where people do not get their fully paid sick leave, or if they work in jobs where they do not have contractual sick leave, there may be minimum payments they can rely on, known as statutory sick pay."

It will probably depend on what the company can afford.. a lot of smaller businesses don't have the cash in the bank to cover full salaries if all staff decided to self isolate.

Thank you. It is a small company but they sell high end items. They could well afford it but have decided not to. We will have to cross our fingers none of us get it.

I do understand. I'm a small business owner and would normally pay time off in full, however with 15 staff it is a worry covering salary not just for 7 or 14 days but potentially longer as this thing continues... plus if we are forced to shut there are still overheads to pay but no income. The majority of our staff can't work from home because of the machinery needed.

It's awful from all sides.

I doubt there’s a GP in the land who’s going to agree to issue a sick note for covid-19.