Nearly one in ten staff with Covid symptoms are being pressured to go to work, a trade union has claimed.
As coronavirus cases and hospital admissions rise again in England, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) reports that nine per cent of employees displaying symptoms of the virus have been forced to come into work over the past 12 months.
Polling reveals that a further 10 per cent had been asked to work alongside colleagues who had recently recorded a positive test result.
The survey, carried out in May, shows that only 29 per cent of workers feel safe going to work since the Government lifted all restrictions earlier this year.
The figure was even lower for disabled workers, at just 14 per cent.
It comes as as last month, a call centre worker who quit her job in disgust after her boss ordered her back to her desk during the pandemic won more than £15,000 in damages.
Administrator Bridget Regnante, 51, said she was too terrified to give up her work from home status as her 66-year old husband was shielding following treatment for cancer.
Her team leader Lawrence King suggested she was exaggerating her situation and advised her to move into a hotel simply so she could be in the office.
She was threatened with unpaid leave before she quit her job entirely, before winning her case at an employment tribunal last month.
One deli worker told The Guardian that she was forced to work on a supermarket deli counter even though she was still testing positive, and was later threatened with disciplinary action when she refused.
She said: “My manager called me on the third day and told me to come in because they were short staffed.
"But I was still testing positive – the line was still strong."
She claimed that her place of work was 'not bothered' about her welfare, or that of the customers and staff.
In the week leading up to July 4, more than 11,000 people were admitted to hospitals in England, while deaths relating to the virus are also reportedly on the rise.
TUC health and safety officer Shelly Asquith said: “No one should feel unsafe at work. Conservative ministers have been too complacent in removing requirements for Covid-specific risk assessments in workplaces."
It is predicted that hospital Covid admissions could become higher than the April peak of 2,000 per day.
But the TUC polling indicated that 18 per cent of workplaces have not yet carried out a Covid risk assessment, while around a quarter had not introduced measures to improve ventilation.
Other complaints made by workers during the research included not being allowed time off to get vaccinated, or being denied the chance to work from home where possible.
Dr Mike Gent, a director at UK Health Security Agency, said: “Businesses and workplaces are advised to strongly encourage employees to stay at home and avoid contact with other people if they are unwell with symptoms of a respiratory infection such as Covid-19.
"They should only return to the workplace when they no longer feel unwell or until they don’t have a high temperature."
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