Four Seasons Health Care (FSHC) will pay 15,000 care workers full pay if they have to self-isolate due to the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic.
Employees working at any of its 185 facilities, who have been self-isolating or have contracted the virus since April 2020, will also have their pay backdated.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, care workers have only been eligible for statutory sick pay (SSP) which is currently set at £95 per week.
The organisation is also in discussions with the care workers’ representative GMB union, to find ways to further improve working conditions for its employees.
Kelly Andrews, social care lead at GMB, said: ”This is a massive win for our members. Carers across the country have been struggling on statutory sick pay whilst battling this virus. And now they have at least some protection.
“GMB is calling for full sick pay across the social care sector so that our vulnerable are protected, not just now but always.”
FSHC was unavailable to comment at the time of publication.