A recent study found that one in 20 people reported experiencing at least one of the 29 symptoms of COVID-19 for 12 weeks or more. The REACT-2 study collected data from random samples of the population between September 2020 and February 2021, presenting findings that around 6% of the population – that’s more than two million people – have experienced the persistent symptoms of COVID-19, known as ‘post-COVID-19 syndrome’, ‘long-tai COVID’ or ‘long COVID’.
Professor Paul Elliott, director of the REACT programme from Imperial College London’s School of Public Health, said: “Our findings do paint a concerning picture of the longer-term health consequences of COVID-19, which need to be accounted for in policy and planning.
Long COVID is still poorly understood but we hope through our research that we can contribute to better identification and management of this condition, which our data and others’, suggest may ultimately affect millions of people in the UK alone.”
What are the symptoms of long COVID?
Although most people feel better in a few days or weeks, with most making a full recovery within 12 weeks, for some the symptoms can last longer. Common long COVID symptoms include:
- extreme tiredness (fatigue)
- shortness of breath
- chest pain or tightness
- problems with memory and concentration (“brain fog”)
- difficulty sleeping (insomnia)
- heart palpitations
- dizziness
- pins and needles
- joint pain
- depression and anxiety
- tinnitus, earaches
- feeling sick, diarrhoea, stomach aches, loss of appetite
- a high temperature, cough, headaches, sore throat, changes to sense of smell or taste
- rashes
Karen Matthews, a member of the LongCovidSOS campaign group, says: “[Long COVID] can affect employees in different ways. Some people are unable to work with their symptoms and have mobility issues. Some are on reduced hours or have agreed with their workplaces to have phased returns.” And while some people are able to go back to work full time, “in the worst-case scenario sufferers are now losing their jobs as they have used up their statutory sick leave period”, she adds.
Is long COVID recognised as a ‘thing’ for the purposes of employment law?
The short answer is yes. But it’s also early days.
There isn’t yet a diagnostic code for long Covid, Matthew Holder, interim head of policy and engagement at the British Safety Council, notes in People Management. “We know anecdotally that employees are struggling to get the support from their companies because they are treating it like any other illness and deploying a procedural approach,” he says. “In some cases we have heard of employers putting long Covid down as ‘fatigue’ or ‘depression’ simply because there aren’t any other boxes in the HR system to put the symptoms in.”
The most important thing to remember is that, if in doubt, the usual rules for sickness absence and sick pay apply when someone is off work because of long COVID.
Your employee is better one day and off sick the next. Is this usual?
It is entirely usual. Employers need to be aware that the effects of long COVID can come and go. One day the employee might seem well, but on the next they will need time off work.
The most important thing for employers is to judge the employee by the extent to which they’re affected by the condition, rather than ticking a box that says ‘long COVID’ and following an inflexible process.
What about payment if the employee is not working their full hours?
If an employee is on a phased return whereby they are working reduced hours, they are normally paid the hours that they actually work although of course you can pay them more if you wish. Once an employee returns to work they are no longer entitled to SSP for any weeks in which they work; if they are subsequently off sick again, the absences may be linked and therefore the entitlement to SSP kicks back in, without the 3 unpaid waiting days. We are happy to advise you on the implications of phased returns and payments so do give us a call.
How can you support employees with long COVID?
The most important thing is not to have a blanket approach to this. If someone is off sick for a long period of time it stands to reason that they’re likely to feel isolated and worried about work. Talk to them and agree how and when you’re going to make contact during any absences. Make sure their work is covered and they know not to worry about it. Once they are starting to feel better, talk to them about their return to work and what they need by way of support. You need to deal with each on a case-by-case basis. It’s not going to be possible to lump everyone into one box marked ‘long COVID’.
How should you manage the employee’s return to work?
With any long illness a return to work is likely to need to be phased, flexible and considerate of the needs of all parties. Employees who have been off on long-term sick leave can be challenging to bring back to work, especially if they feel that you, as their employer, has been unsupportive.
The golden rule is to talk to the employee about the support they need… and don’t put too much pressure on them to return too early or get back to ‘normal hours’.
You might want to consider getting an occupational health assessment, making reasonable changes to the workplace or changing how they work in terms of the spread of hours or schedule (also see our Home & Hybrid Working Update from 1st October 2021). You will also want to agree what they want to tell others at work about their illness.
ACAS has provided a helpful example of making reasonable adjustment after long COVID:
Bo has had severe tiredness and body aches since having COVID-19 a few weeks ago. Their doctor has diagnosed long COVID. Bo is ready to come back to work but is worried that working full time will be hard.
Bo’s employer looks at the workload and is able to allocate some work to others in the team. This means they can offer Bo part-time hours to start their return to work. They put in a date to review the arrangement.
What happens if they still can’t do their job properly?
One of the biggest challenges you might face, as an employer, is having an employee who tries to continue working with long COVID but is unable to perform at their normal level, because of the symptoms.
The first step, if this is the case, is to see if you can do anything to help them to do their work. It might be that you need further occupational health assessments or that more flexibility or support is needed. The golden rule is to ensure you’ve done everything you possibly can before you consider a capability procedure. This is a formal process where you investigate the situation and decide the next step to take (usually dismissal). A word of caution: if you dismiss an employee without first carrying out a “full and fair disciplinary or capability procedure” the employee could bring an Employment Tribunal claim for unfair dismissal; talk to us about how to manage these situations and we will support you to ensure you do so safely.
Does this mean that long COVID is now classed as a disability?
In short, it’s still early days. Long COVID is a new illness and it’s going to take time to understand what it is and how it affects employees and employers. For something to be classed as a disability it has to have a “substantial and long-term negative effect on a person’s ability to do normal day-to-day activities”. Long-term means has lasted or will last for at least 12 months. And, before you ask, yes, it can come and go to still qualify. Our advice is to focus on the reasonable adjustments you can make, rather than worrying about whether it is classified as a disability.
So this means you don’t need to worry about discrimination claims?
Woah there! Although it might be early days for disability discrimination claims, where long COVID is concerned, there are a number of other things to consider before you wipe the discrimination slate clean. Long COVID has been found to more severely affect older people, ethnic minorities and women, so you still need to consider these things when deciding on a course of action.
What is the risk to you, as an employer, of a tribunal claim?
If you follow the advice above, and talk to us before acting, it will help to reduce any risk to your business of an employee bringing a claim. Long COVID is just another example of how companies need to invest in medical evidence and ways of supporting staff with long-term health problems.
We hope that this guide has provided useful information and answered many of your basic questions. For all of those specific concerns that have not been covered here, please get in touch with us and we will be delighted to help.
Our Support and Advice
We are always happy to debate the pros/cons, dos/don’ts with you so please do talk to us if we can help in any way, we are here to support you.
Please note, this briefing is accurate at the time of writing, it is not intended to replace advice so please do call us if you have any queries.
