'Outrageous': Government tells 'gig economy' workers to claim universal credit if coronavirus forces them to stay at home

Staff with no sick pay - often on zero-hours contracts - who are told to self-isolate face five-week wait for payments to come through

Gig economy workers forced to stay home because of coronavirus will be told to claim universal credit to make up for their lost wages, in a move attacked as “outrageous”.

It would involve a wait of up to five weeks for payments to come through for staff – often on zero-hours contracts – with no sick pay, who suspect they have the disease.

The other option is to move onto employment and support allowance, but that requires claimants to have up to three years of National Insurance contributions.

The stance set out by the department for work and pensions (DWP) came as Boris Johnson insisted he was “well aware of the issue” – but set out no other possible help for gig economy workers.

Alex Sobel, a Labour MP who had to self-isolate for two weeks last month because of the virus, said: “The government advice is outrageous.

“The government should provide sick pay if the public health advice is for precarious workers is to self-isolate. Otherwise, we risk a much faster and greater spreading of coronavirus.”

Christina McAnea, Unison’s assistant general secretary, echoed the criticism, saying: “If they stay off work, staff need to know they have enough money to feed their families and pay rent.

“Waiting up to five weeks to get benefits runs the risk of them covering up symptoms.”

And Sue Harris, legal director at the GMB union, said, “For workers, or the self-employed, making a claim for universal credit is laborious and lengthy.

“If the government is serious about containing the virus it has to take steps to make sure people are able to self-isolate without the added concern of how they will pay their bills.”

The alarm was raised after Justin Tomlinson, the benefits minister, answered a question tabled by Mr Sobel, on what help gig economy workers could expect.

He said: “Those whose employers ask them to stay away from the workplace due to coronavirus concerns, who do not qualify for statutory sick pay, may be able to claim universal credit and/or new-style employment and support allowance.”

Nearly 2 million workers in the UK do not earn enough to qualify for statutory sick pay, trade union leaders say.

Quizzed on the controversy at his press conference, the prime minister hinted that extra help might come through in next week’s Budget, saying the government was “keeping all options under review”.

But, earlier, health secretary Matt Hancock played down problems as he said that anyone self-isolating for medical reasons would be eligible for sick pay.

“Asked about freelancers, he said: “There is a system in place through DWP to help people who are in difficult circumstances because of that and we keep these things under review.

“I talked to the welfare secretary yesterday about it so this of course we’ll keep that under review. There is a robust system in place.”