Two-thirds of people with long Covid say they have faced unfair treatment at work, including bullying, harassment, threats of disciplinary action and redundancy.
Three years after the first lockdown was announced, an estimated 2 million people in the UK – or 3.1% of the population – are experiencing ongoing symptoms after catching Covid-19, according to the Office for National Statistics.
A survey of more than 3,000 people with long Covid, conducted for the TUC and the Long Covid Support Employment Group, found that 66% had experienced some form of unfair treatment at work, including 23% who said their employer had questioned whether they have the condition and/or the impact of their symptoms, 16% who had been bullied and/or harassed, and 8% who had been threatened with disciplinary action.
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One in seven (14%) had lost their job because of reasons connected to long Covid. Some felt they had been unfairly singled out for redundancy, while others felt forced to take early retirement or resign to protect their health.
One woman in the agriculture sector said: “Absolutely awful experience losing my job. They ignored the advice of the [occupational therapist] and instead went down the route of making me redundant. I was the only person in the whole organisation made redundant so it was definitely related to my health issues and my wanting reasonable adjustments which they couldn’t justify not giving me.”
The Workers’ experiences of long Covid report urges the government to help protect workers from discrimination by specifying long Covid as a disability under the Equality Act 2010.
It also said employers should ensure return-to-work risk assessments and reasonable adjustments, including flexible working arrangements, are in place.
TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “Workers with Long Covid have been badly let down. Many of these are the key workers who carried us through the pandemic – yet now some are being forced out of their jobs and too many are relying on food banks just to get by.
“Ministers must make sure all workers with Long Covid have the legal right to reasonable adjustments at work so they can stay in their jobs. Covid-19 should be designated as an occupational disease. That would allow workers who contracted Covid-19 at work and are living with the consequences to claim the compensation they are due.”
Lesley Macniven, chair of the Long Covid Support Employment Group, said the report showed the scale of the loss of skilled talent due to long Covid.
She said: “Long Covid is devastating the health of a significant percentage of our workforce and urgently requires a more strategic response. How much individual pain, misery and financial loss could have been saved if targeted intervention had been taken to prevent these hundreds of thousands of job losses?
“Those still fighting to stay in work face discrimination and a lack of understanding. Without action around retention of these workers, not least in sectors facing skills shortages, the numbers, and costs, will continue to rise as they too reluctantly exit the workforce.”
The survey also found that:
- Nearly three in 10 (28%) employees with long Covid were concerned the condition had affected their chances of getting a promotion
- One in 10 had not told their employer they were suffering with long Covid. Of these, a third said it was because they didn’t think their employer would do anything, or they were worried it would be viewed negatively
- A third had not asked for any changes to their job
- Almost half had not been given all or any of the changes they needed to return to work, while half were not given the changes they needed to manage their work.
Six in 10 said their ability to carry out day-to-day activities had been limited substantially by long Covid. The most common symptoms were fatigue (96%), cognitive dysfunction (84%) and shortness of breath or difficulty breathing (73%). Eighty-six per cent experienced post exertional malaise, the worsening of symptoms following physical or mental activity, which often meant having to limit their activities or take additional rest periods.
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