New research by the Trade Union Congress has found that One in seven workers reported losing their job because of reasons connected to Long Covid. The Office of National Statistics (ONS) found that as of 2 January 2023, 2 million people self-report having long-covid.
Two-thirds of respondents (66 per cent) said they had experienced one or more types of unfair treatment at work. This includes one in six (16 per cent) who had been subject to bullying and/or harassment at work, and one in 13 (8 per cent) told the TUC they had been threatened with disciplinary action. Almost a quarter of respondents (23 per cent) said their employer has questioned whether they have Long Covid and the impact of their symptoms.
Half of the respondents (49 per cent) said they had reason to believe they had contracted Covid-19 at work, which the TUC said highlights that many people are being continually failed by their employer, from a lack of health and safety measures, including ventilation, to poor treatment in response to Long Covid.
You can read the full report into Long Covid on the Trade Union Congress website.
Mikey Erhardt, Policy and Campaigns Officer at DR UK said:
"The latest report from the TUC is shocking and disappointing. It is very clear that a culture of suspicion and punitive action is imposed on Disabled people in the workplace.
Things must change, and businesses must transform not just their views about Disabled people but their working cultures so that flexibility and adaptation are at their core. It’s time to embrace the new, not go back to the old, failing practices."