The parent company of Waitrose, John Lewis Partnership, has revealed its staff will receive full sick pay, regardless of their Covid vaccination status.
According to the company, it doesn’t “believe it’s right” to treat vaccinated and unvaccinated employees differently.
The news comes as Ocado introduced sickness policies which separate jabbed and unjabbed staff members who have to self-isolate.
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“We’re not going to make any change of this type,” John Lewis group operations director Andrew Murphy said.
“We just don’t believe it’s right to create a link between a partner’s vaccination status and the pay they receive.”
Murphy added: “We cast no judgment on the decisions of any other organisation; in fact we’ve enjoyed how united businesses – retailers especially – have been in the face of these huge corporate and societal challenges.
“However, when life increasingly seems to present opportunities to create division – and with hopes rising that the pandemic phase of Covid may be coming to an end – we’re confident that this is the right approach for us.”
Currently, all unvaccinated people must self-isolate for 10 days, regardless if if they have tested negative for the virus.
However, this does not apply for those who are fully vaccinated.
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