Will those having to quarantine for 14 days be paid sick pay?

[itsgettingweird]

I know many companies have been able to pay sick or use sickness policy during lockdown for isolating staff.

But what happens if it's forced quarantine after flying into the country?

For example. I have got a holiday booked the end of August. I have - ever since this was declared a global pandemic - expected not to go.
I have continued to pay instalments as I can't cancel without losing money. Balance is due 2 weeks before I fly.
Short and long of it is payment so far covers flights and I'm aware it'll take up to 8 months for that to come back and I've accepted it. I knew balance wouldn't be taken as they make decisions weeks in advance.

However now it's very unclear what will happen 3 months from now. It's unclear how long quarantines will last for country entry across Europe and who will release quarantine when.

So my question is does anyone know what happens if your holiday goes ahead but you must still quarantine on return to the UK?

Will you then be issued a not fit to work certificate because this is enforced rather than illness?

I'm also wondering if it's not just easier for countries to agree that holidays won't happen and refunds can be given if they still think returning requires quarantine if the receiving country isn't enforcing it and you go.

I also wondered if anyone has any information beyond what tabloids have printed (!) with regards information such as some airlines flying the routes with empty planes because it then means they don't have to issue refunds. Apparently fuel is 45% of costs and so they still make a profit and even more so as they don't need a full cabin staff and baggage staff etc.

I know I am extremely fortunate to have been able to have booked a summer holiday abroad. And I have all along said I'd rebook with same airline and travel company if they are fair with refunds. I actually planned to book a more expensive trip as would have a further year to pay the extra.

And no I'm not deliberately paying instalments. I paid a deposit and then instalments. Then I had 1 instalment due after this was announced a global pandemic and then the other 60% is to be paid 2 weeks before I go. No one knew at the time of instalment this would happen.
If I had known after paying deposit last year this would happen I would have cancelled and lost £80.

And no I don't expect my company to pay me. What I'm asking is if anyone knows the rules and how it works now they are bringing in quarantine.

As as I clearly typed in my OP I had fully expected my holiday to be cancelled and to wait up to 8 months for the refund of flights.
But now it appears more complicated from what we hear in media etc mixed with government announcements and I wanted to know if anyone else was clearer than me?

I am allowed to be concerned about losing a lot of money. I may not be able to work from September if colleges remain closed as I have a disabled child to care for. I can't afford to lose money (like most people right now!)

Why should they pay you to choose to go on holiday knowing the consequences are you may be unable to work on your return (assuming no wfh option)

A lot of companies have said how well WFH is going so surely they would have no issue with it happening after an annual holiday.

I'm not talking about a weekend away every couple of months, but a one or two week holiday once a year. If I manage to get away next year I'm planning on packing up everything I need for two weeks at home on my last day in the office. Surely that would be better than me being out for 3 or 4 weeks. If that's what work say I have to do then fine, but I won't look at emails or answer calls!

SorrelBlackbeak

That's the employee's problem not the employers. By all means go on holiday but if you don't have the leave for the extra 2 weeks then take it as unpaid time off, if the employer allows it.

Flights are running empty because they must - not because they want to avoid refunds. Pilots need to maintain flight times for their licence, routes must be used or given up, and planes actually need to fly to help maintain them.

I may be wrong about this, because predicting what our daft government will do is becoming almost as much of a challenge as predicting what President Trump will say next, but I suspect the quarantine won't last very long. I think they are doing it because they said they would and now they must! They look twits either way. The time, if you were going to do it, was mid-March. The horse has well and truly bolted by now, cleared all the fences, and is waiting in the paddock! Just as almost every other country is beginning to cautiously lift quarantine, we decide to do it!

Perhaps New Zealand can manage to live in a bubble for the next however many years. But few countries can or want to. Quarantine was have helped halt the spread for now but the claims that they have eradicated the virus are ridiculous. The virus is well, alive and kicking, and is in the world. It is not eradicated. The second they lift the quarantine it will be back. Now maybe they will be lucky and a highly effective vaccine is just around the corner. Or maybe the virus will burn itself out as some viruses have done in the past. Or maybe it will settle into being a mild irritant for most like flu. All those options are possible, and more. But one thing is certain - the population of New Zealand have, and are not remotely developing, any resistance to the virus, and the most likely scenario is that the minute they decide to interact with the world, it will hit them hard.

You didn't say where to, the impression I got yesterday was that after the 3 weeks are up air bridges might be set up to avoid quarantine to certain countrys.

So as I said. People are faced with paying for a holiday they can't go on. Which doesn't seem right considering the current situation.

I've also thought about it. A large ,majority of people who holiday during the summer holidays are teachers and school staff.
If large numbers decide to do because quarantine means only actually missing 1-7 days of work at the start of term this is seriously going to affect the whole country.

I still agree with sorrel. If travel into the uk from aboard is still not considered safe then advice not to travel should stand and refunds given.

Dad Spanish island. That apparently right now has no cases. I also have suspected to have had CV a few months ago and diagnosed on symptoms but no test because I narrowly avoided hospitalisation.

I'm happy not to go. I never expected to go from about February. But I also never expected to face a decision where I lose my holiday and my money or have my holiday and lose wages.

I'd happily rebook for next year. I'm happy to support the travel industry.

I think it should be like the rules on self isolation if a family member gets symptoms ie SSP applies.

The government cant possibly step into this, can you imagine?!

I'm going to abroad soon, only I'm not because I cant given im shielding never mind the 2 week quarantine. I just have to take the hit. It's bad luck but half the country is in the same boat.

Every single holiday company and flight provider would go under if you got your way. The impact would be far worse than people losing a holiday.

”And no I don't expect my company to pay me.”

That’s exactly what you were after in your OP. You wanted sick pay.

Interesting thread. One of my team booked to spend Christmas in the States this year. He booked it pre-covid. If the trip goes ahead and he has to quarantine when he comes back, is he on annual leave, sick pay, or working from home on full pay?

People are faced with paying for a holiday they can't go on. Which doesn't seem right considering the current situation.

But that is exactly the current situation. Virtually everyone has lost out/will lose out somewhere. That’s the nature of a pandemic. It may be their money, or their holiday, or their employment, or their home, or their health or their life.

I think you are being given an unnecessarily hard time here OP, so ignore the tossers who are acting like wanting to go on holiday is unreasonable. I want to go on holiday too! We normally have around 7 holidays a year, and that’s something I love more than anything in the world; I’m keen to get back to it when it’s safe to do so. A world without holidays, for me, feels very bleak.

I think your thread title is muddying the waters a bit; are you basically asking wtf are we supposed to do if we can’t get refunds because the holiday is still on offer but the practicality of going puts it out of reach of most people? Because I would truly like to know the answer to that too.

The three week quarantine has been said by the aviation industry to be an absolute disaster - so lord knows what is going to happen. People don’t just travel internationally for fun holidays, either! I live in London and so many of my friends and colleagues are from all over the world - they will soon leave and move home if they can’t get back to their home countries when they need to without a load of hassle. It will truly be a disaster for so many of our essential services if we make it impossible for people to want to emigrate in any practical sense. I worry about this massively!

What I'm curious about is how many countries will require a similar 14 quarantine when you enter them? I read somewhere that France might now they're included in our quarantine rules.

I'd happily rebook for next year. I'm happy to support the travel industry

Yes, but if this is what happens to everyone's bookings the sector will still go under. It's just delaying the inevitable.

@daisypond the problem for travel companies is that if people pay significant sums of money for holidays they can't go on this year, there will be far fewer people willing to take the risk of booking next year even if they can afford to, which many people won't.

I think the most you can expect is WFH, annual leave or unpaid leave. Sick pay would be taking the piss.

No scope there for people popping off for weekends all over the place and having 2 weeks sick leave every time they come back...

Best case scenario you'd accept you maybe quarantined in the country you visit and in UK, so may need to use all allowance to cover this time period and actually "holiday".
If you opt to leave the country for your 2 weeks holiday , knowing there's a compulsory return quarantine, you're accepting unpaid leave if you need to work in a workplace. If still wfh it's a non issue if not symptomatic.
I dusageee that the state needs to compensate you. You could have lost your deposit only months ago but chose to not take that path, so that's the consequence of your choices.
Basically, hard luck.

It's your responsibility to back in time for work. They may offer you unpaid leave but even that is up to them.

the problem for travel companies is that if people pay significant sums of money for holidays they can't go on this year, there will be far fewer people willing to take the risk of booking next year even if they can afford to, which many people won't.

Well, yes. Taking holidays in a pandemic is hardly a priority. And in the aftermath of it too. The travel industry, like many others, may take years to recover. Definitely not by next year.

I think this isn't just a 'going on holiday' question. It looks like the plan for the future involves lots of people having to self isolate for 14 days, for lots of reasons - family member has symptoms, you have symptoms (which may well just be a light cold - which most people will get), you spend 15 minutes in a restaurant and it turns out that someone else in the same room had symptoms.

We are all going to be expected to spend multiple weeks at home and I think there does need to be guidance for employers as to how they handle it, and if the government wants compliance on this, they need to encourage employers to be generous and flexible. Because no one is going to risk losing 28 weeks pay over the course of a year, and maybe not be able to feed their family, because of a couple of times when they stood near someone with a cold.

There are so many unfairnesses about this pandemic, and this is one of them. It's a difficult situation and you will loose out one way or the other OP, but that's just the way it is- there is no way you will receive sick pay during a self enforced isolation.

This is another way in which travel will only become for the very well off

Yep. If you’re already able to pay for first class travel what’s another grand each?

I’m not expecting we’ll be able to go on our summer holiday but if by some miracle we can we’ll have to cancel and forfeit the money. No chance of taking extra annual leave - school holidays are booked up a year in advance.

Some countries are talking about doing tests on arrival. That’s a game changer for international travel and I would hope the UK would be able to follow suit at some point.