Cosmetics giant Lush has said it will continue to pay staff to self-isolate if they test positive for Covid even when restrictions are lifted in England.
From Thursday (February 24) people who test positive for the virus will no longer legally be required to isolate. Under the so-called ‘living with Covid’ plan announced by the Prime Minister Boris Johnson this week, free testing will also come to an end in April.
Lush, which is headquartered in Poole in Dorset, said it was encouraging all its UK and Ireland staff in customer-facing roles to continue using lateral flow tests while they were available
It said it would also encourage retail staff who test positive to self isolate for 10 days, unless they have negative tests for two consecutive days from days five and six of isolation.
The firm said it would support retail employees financially to self isolate for the “foreseeable future”.
“Lush will continue to maintain as safe a working environment as possible by encouraging staff to continue wearing face coverings, clean surfaces regularly, and wash their hands frequently,” the company said in a statement.
Analysis
The move by Lush might not come as a surprise to many. The company prides itself on its culture and has long had a history of going against the grain.
Last year, when the rules on working from home came to an end, it said it would not force people to return. Lush’s finance director, Kim Coles, told BusinessLive in 2021 the pandemic had made working “much more flexible”.
It comes just months after the retailer announced it was shutting down its Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat accounts following concerns around the safety of the platforms for users.
The business said it would no longer be using those networks from November 26 in any of the 48 countries it operates in.
The move to ditch some of the biggest social media platforms is expected to create a potential loss of £10m in sales, according to Jack Constantine, the firm’s chief digital officer. The latest decision is also likely to be costly for the firm, but this is a business that creates it’s own rules.
Will more companies follow suit? The easing of restrictions has been given a "cautious" welcome by many firms, but it's likely Lush won't be alone in its decision to financially support its staff in relation to Covid. Only time will tell, however.
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