Long COVID at work: what are my rights?
You do not have to prove you caught COVID at work to get sick pay or disability protection. What matters is how it affects you and which rights apply.
A care shift can leave you too exhausted to cook. Brain fog can make a busy till impossible. If long COVID is making work harder, tell your employer what you cannot safely do and ask for changes in writing. You may have a legal right to reasonable adjustments, alongside sick pay. An attendance warning does not wipe those rights away.
- £123.25
- weekly SSP cap from 6 April 2026
- 80%
- of average weekly earnings, capped at £123.25
- 28 wks
- maximum SSP, including linked sickness periods
- 12 mths
- disability’s usual long-term test, including likely future effects
Start here: what to do today
- Explain the effect, in writing. Tell your manager how symptoms affect daily life and your job. Ask for specific changes, such as shorter shifts. Keep a copy outside your work account.
- Protect your sick pay. Follow the sickness reporting procedure. Self-certify for 7 calendar days; get a fit note from day 8. Ask the clinician to describe restrictions and changes that could make work safe.
- Get backup. Contact your union rep before an attendance meeting. UNISON, USDAW, Unite, GMB and IWGB cover many essential jobs. Ask whether a new membership covers an existing dispute. Acas, Citizens Advice and law centres also offer free advice.
- Keep the deadline separate. Save warnings, rotas and refused requests. Get advice now, even if your employer is still investigating. An internal grievance does not stop tribunal time limits.
Get advice before resigning. It can end sick pay and make some claims harder. If shifts disappear after disclosure, save the evidence. See how to make a discrimination complaint.
Is long COVID a disability in law?
Sometimes. Long COVID is not an automatic disability. In Great Britain, protection depends on how you are affected.
In England, Wales and Scotland, section 6 of the Equality Act sets the test. You must meet all three parts:
| Test | What it means |
|---|---|
| Physical or mental impairment | Fatigue, breathlessness or brain fog can be evidence. A diagnosis alone does not decide it. |
| Substantial effect on normal day-to-day activities | More than minor or trivial. Describe difficulties with cooking, walking, concentrating or ordinary work tasks. Completing a shift does not rule out disability. |
| Long-term effect | Lasted or likely to last at least 12 months, or likely to last the rest of your life. Effects likely to recur can count as continuing. |
You need not wait a year if the effects are likely to last that long. Keep evidence of relapses and likely duration. For adjustments, your employer must know, or reasonably be expected to know, about your disability and disadvantage. No tribunal ruling is needed first.
In Burke v Turning Point Scotland, the claimant’s long COVID met the test. That decision does not make everyone with long COVID disabled. Where you caught it is irrelevant.
Sick pay: what you get now
From 6 April 2026, SSP has no earnings threshold or waiting days. You must still qualify as an employee for SSP purposes, have done some work for the employer and be ill for a full working day. Report sickness by the employer’s deadline, or within 7 days if it has none.
The 2026/27 weekly rate is the lower of 80% of average weekly earnings or £123.25. Payment covers qualifying working days, for up to 28 weeks. Linked relapses can share that allowance. Contractual sick pay can provide more but normally includes SSP, rather than adding it on top. See our SSP guide.
Example: three care shifts a week
Amara, 25, works three 8-hour shifts at April 2026’s £12.71 National Living Wage. Average weekly earnings of 24 x £12.71 = £305.04 give an 80% rate of £244.03. The lower amount, £123.25, is her full-week SSP. That totals £3,451 over 28 weeks if earlier linked sickness has not used some entitlement.
An eligible cleaner averaging £110 a week was below the old £125 threshold. Now SSP pays £88 for a full qualifying week. Better than nothing. Still a pay cut.
If payroll refuses or underpays SSP, ask for written reasons. Unresolved disputes go to HMRC’s Statutory Payment Disputes Team under current GOV.UK guidance. Your manager’s word is not the final decision.
Reasonable adjustments are a right, not a favour
Your employer must take reasonable steps to address substantial disability disadvantage caused by a rule, physical feature or missing aid. Failure breaches the Equality Act adjustment duty. You cannot be charged. Discrimination compensation has no statutory ceiling, but a claim needs evidence.
You are not automatically entitled to your preferred change. Effectiveness, cost and employer resources matter. See our reasonable adjustments guide.
| Problem at work | Possible adjustment |
|---|---|
| A warehouse shift leaves you exhausted for days | Shorter shifts, planned recovery breaks, lighter duties or a phased return |
| Brain fog makes a busy till hard to manage | Written instructions, fewer tasks at once or a quieter workstation |
| Breathlessness makes cleaning stairs difficult | Ground-floor work, less lifting or suitable equipment |
| Relapses repeatedly trigger attendance warnings | A higher trigger, separate recording or discounting some disability-related absence |
| Travel uses the energy you need for work | Changed start times or home working where the duties allow it |
Explain the disadvantage, attach medical advice where available and ask for a written decision and review date. If refused, ask why and what alternative is offered. The duty is not optional.
Bedside care cannot be done from home, but a different rota or suitable duties may help. Ask for a risk assessment where symptoms affect driving, lifting or other safety-critical tasks. A phased return should respond to relapses, not make you work through them.
Agree phased-return pay in writing. Reduced hours do not automatically preserve your earnings. Check contractual sick pay and SSP before accepting a permanent hours cut.
A flexible working request is separate. GB employees can ask from day one, twice in 12 months, with a decision normally due within two months. Employers must consult before refusing but can refuse on permitted business grounds. An adjustment request concerns a duty, not merely permission. Name that duty when asking.
Access to Work can fund eligible equipment, travel support or a support worker. It is not guaranteed and does not replace the employer’s duty.
Absence triggers, discipline and dismissal
An absence score can trigger a meeting. It cannot decide whether a warning or dismissal is lawful. These protections can overlap:
An attendance trigger may need adjusting if it creates substantial disability disadvantage. Discounting some absence or increasing the threshold are possible adjustments, not a blanket exemption. See repeated absence rights.
Section 15 protects against unfavourable treatment because of something arising from disability, such as absence. The employer can defend it as a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. Separately, lack of knowledge is a defence if it neither knew nor could reasonably have been expected to know of the disability. Discrimination claims need no minimum service.
Ordinary unfair dismissal usually requires employee status and two years’ continuous service in Great Britain today. Disability discrimination protection does not depend on that service.
Zero-hours, agency and gig staff
“Casual” does not settle your rights. Sick pay, discrimination and unfair dismissal use different status tests.
Zero-hours and agency staff may qualify for SSP. The agency normally pays where it is the responsible employer; an umbrella may employ you instead. PAYE is not the complete legal test. See zero-hours and agency rights.
The Equality Act covers many people contracted to work personally, including contract workers. An agency and end user can each owe duties. Someone without ordinary unfair dismissal rights may still claim discrimination.
Genuinely self-employed people get neither SSP nor ordinary unfair dismissal protection. A courier contract’s label does not settle status; nor does every contractor qualify for Equality Act protection. Get advice on the real working arrangement.
Lost shifts after requesting adjustments may be discrimination. Victimisation specifically concerns retaliation for a protected act, such as alleging an Equality Act breach. Disclosure alone is not necessarily a protected act.
Fit notes, phased return and when SSP ends
A doctor, registered nurse, physiotherapist, occupational therapist or pharmacist can issue a fit note. “May be fit for work” allows suggested changes. Discuss them with your employer; the note does not require a return without those changes.
Holiday accrues during sickness. In GB, four weeks’ unused statutory leave lost to long-term sickness can carry over, unless the employer permits more. Do not assume all 5.6 weeks carry over. Obtain your balance and expiry date.
The employer must provide SSP1 if you do not qualify or SSP is ending. If it expects you still to be sick when SSP runs out, the form is due by the start of week 23.
New Style Employment and Support Allowance requires a sufficient National Insurance record and other eligibility conditions. You can apply three months before SSP ends, but cannot receive both. Universal Credit may be available during SSP, depending on household income and eligibility.
Example: a kitchen porter without company sick pay
Lena, 26, works 37.5 hours at £12.71. Gross weekly pay rounds to £476.63. Maximum SSP of £123.25 means a £353.38 weekly drop, about 74%, before benefit support and tax differences. Check help with living costs early.
Tribunal deadlines and Acas
Acas confirms most claims about problems on or after 1 October 2026 have six months minus one day. Earlier problems usually retain three months minus one day. The reform does not reopen expired claims.
Dismissal time usually runs from the effective termination date. Discrimination dates, particularly continuing failures to adjust, need individual advice. An ignored request does not necessarily keep time open.
- Record the dates. Take warnings, refusals, adjustment requests and dismissal documents to your adviser.
- Notify Acas in time. Early conciliation normally comes before a tribunal claim. Timely notification pauses the limit while conciliation runs. You need not settle.
- Calculate the final filing date. Keep the certificate and include the conciliation adjustment. A grievance or appeal does not stop the clock.
- File promptly. The ET1 normally needs the certificate number. There is no filing fee. See how to bring a tribunal claim.
Example: the date changes the deadline
Dismissal taking effect on 1 October 2026 has an ordinary deadline of 31 March 2027. Dismissal on 30 September has 29 December 2026. Both assume an eligible claim and exclude early conciliation adjustments. Notify Acas before the relevant limit, then calculate the adjusted filing date.
If you caught COVID at work
Workplace infection is irrelevant to SSP and Equality Act protection. A negligence claim needs evidence that your employer breached its duty and caused your injury. Proving where infection happened can be difficult. Ask your union or a personal injury adviser promptly; a separate limitation period applies.
Long COVID is not listed in DWP’s prescribed diseases for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit. Workplace infection alone does not establish entitlement. Get specialist advice about any separately diagnosed condition. See occupational disease claims.
Your employer must assess workplace risks. Raise unsafe tasks with it and your union safety rep. For unresolved concerns, see HSE enforcement routes. A safety report does not replace a discrimination claim.
Scotland and Northern Ireland
Scotland follows the GB rules above. For Scottish tribunal breach-of-contract claims, the longer deadline applies to breaches on or after 9 November 2026. The discrimination deadline changed on 1 October.
Northern Ireland uses the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, not the Equality Act, with a substantial and long-term effects test. Ordinary unfair dismissal normally needs one year’s service. Conciliation is through the Labour Relations Agency, not Acas. Contact the LRA promptly; do not use GB’s new deadline.
Nidirect confirms first-day SSP for normal working days and signposts GOV.UK. For NI pay disputes, obtain written reasons and speak to Advice NI or your union. See our Northern Ireland guide.
Questions people ask
Do you have to disclose long COVID?
You choose what to disclose. But explain symptoms and disadvantage: adjustment duties depend on what your employer knew or should reasonably have known.
Can your employer wait for a diagnosis?
It can reasonably seek evidence, but should not ignore known effects while awaiting a clinic letter. Ask for interim changes.
Can they count disability-related absence?
Sometimes. Reasonable adjustments may require a changed threshold or discounting some absence, not necessarily every day. Appeal warnings that ignore your evidence.
Can you insist on home working?
Only if it is a reasonable adjustment in your circumstances. Where the job cannot be done remotely, discuss other changes.
What about other chronic illnesses?
The same GB disability test applies. Cancer, HIV and multiple sclerosis are automatic disabilities; other conditions depend on effects and duration. SSP does not require disability.
Does a grievance extend your deadline?
No. Notify Acas within the applicable GB limit even during an internal investigation. Northern Ireland has a separate LRA route.
Sources
- Equality Act 2010, section 6, legislation.gov.uk
- Equality Act 2010, Schedule 1, legislation.gov.uk
- Equality Act 2010, section 15, legislation.gov.uk
- Equality Act 2010, section 20, legislation.gov.uk
- Long COVID advice, Acas
- Burke v Turning Point Scotland, Employment Tribunal decisions
- Plan to Make Work Pay timeline update, GOV.UK
- Employment tribunal time limits, Acas, updated 1 October 2026
- Early conciliation, Acas
- Statutory Sick Pay factsheet, Department for Work and Pensions
- Statutory Sick Pay, GOV.UK
- SSP eligibility and SSP1 deadlines, GOV.UK
- SSP claims and payment disputes, GOV.UK
- National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates, GOV.UK
- Flexible working, GOV.UK
- Access to Work, GOV.UK
- Sick pay and holiday pay, Acas
- Employment and Support Allowance eligibility, GOV.UK
- Long Covid and work, TUC and Long Covid Support, March 2023; survey conducted September and October 2022. Source for both reality checks.
- Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefits technical guidance, including prescribed diseases, Department for Work and Pensions
- Statutory Sick Pay, nidirect
- Sick pay rights, nidirect