IKEA has slashed sick pay for unvaccinated UK staff who are self-isolating because of close contact with someone with COVID-19.
The controversial move – which was first reported by the Mail on Sunday – means that unvaccinated UK workers at the global furniture retailer, who are forced to isolate for that reason, could now be only entitled to the Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) minimum of £96.35 a week during 10 days of isolation.
That compares to more than £400 for an average 40-hour IKEA shop floor week.
When it comes to unvaccinated employees who test positive themselves, managers at IKEA – which has a number of stores in the North West region, including in Ashton-under-Lyne in Tameside, and employs 10,000 staff in the UK – said they will receive full company sick pay, which is higher than the statutory level.
Yet staff who are vaccinated – or unvaccinated due to mitigating circumstances – will receive full pay if they are off for COVID-related reasons.
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Mitigating circumstances include pregnancy or other medical grounds
IKEA has slashed sick pay for unvaccinated UK staff who are self-isolating because of being a close contact / Credit: IKEA
Addressing the move, a spokesperson for IKEA said: “Since the start of the pandemic, the health and safety of our co-workers has been our highest priority [and] since then, IKEA has been working with a separate absence addendum, which is regularly reviewed in line with changes to government guidance.
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“Following the vaccine roll out and changes in the government’s isolation requirements, our approach to COVID-related absences evolved from the 20 September 2021 – an approach developed with our social partners and national co-worker committee.”
They added: “We know this is a highly emotive topic and we appreciate there are many unique circumstances.
“As such, all will be considered on a case by case basis.”
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Unvaccinated staff will only entitled to the Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) minimum of £96.35 a week during 10 days of isolation / Credit: IKEA
At present, people who had had at least two doses of a COVID vaccine are not required to self-isolate if they have been in close contact with someone infected – but by law, people who are unvaccinated and are contacted through the government’s ‘Test and Trace’ system must self-isolate for 10 days.
IKEA is not the first employer to introduced measures for unvaccinated staff.
Big American employers including Google and United Airlines have introduced “no jab, no job” policies with varying degrees of strictness, while Virgin Atlantic announced last year it will not hire new cabin crew or pilots who are not fully vaccinated.
Featured Image – Wikimedia Commons
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Tesco shoppers urged to use up £16.5m-worth of Clubcard vouchers before they expire this month
Emily Sergeant
Tesco is urging Clubcard members to check if they have any vouchers that need to be used up, as millions are set to expire at the end of this month.
Clubcard Vouchers, which are always valid for two years from issue, need to be exchanged before the clock strikes midnight on the last day of this month (30 November), and can go towards everything from the cost of the weekly shop, to pay for fuel, or to pick up a new Tesco Mobile deal.
What’s more is that shoppers can also exchange the remaining vouchers for double their value too -with more than 100 Clubcard reward partners.
You can even take advantage of some all-new reward partner deals as well.
These include the new ‘Tesco Tuesdays’ offer with Cineworld, giving Clubcard members the chance to get cinema tickets for Tuesday showings for just £5 (£2.50 in Clubcard Vouchers), and the amazing new triple value voucher offer with PizzaExpress, meaning £10 of Tesco Clubcard vouchers can be redeemed for a code for £30-off food at the popular pizza chain.
According to Tesco’s stats, if the soon-to-be expired vouchers were all used for ‘Tesco Tuesdays’, it would be enough to get 6.6 million cinema tickets at Cineworld, and if they were exchanged at PizzaExpress, they could secure a whopping £49.5 million of reward codes.
Clubcard members can earn Clubcard points in a variety of ways, including using their Clubcard when they shop or purchase fuel at Tesco, or when they charge electric vehicles at Pod charging facilities at Tesco stores.
Today, it’s believed that more than 24 million UK households have a Tesco Clubcard.
“We don’t want anyone to miss out on making the most of their Tesco Clubcard Vouchers, and with some great new offers with Clubcard Rewards this really is a great time to use those vouchers up,” commented Shama Wilson, who is the Tesco Group Membership and Loyalty Director.
“So it really is worth checking in the Tesco app to see if you have any vouchers expiring.”
Featured Image – Tesco
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Bongo’s Bingo is hosting a series of special ‘Christmas Cracker’ and New Year’s shows
Danny Jones
Britain’s beloved Bongo’s Bingo is hosting a series of massive end-of-season specials to ring in the new year, announcing a number of their famous ‘Christmas Cracker’ and festive parties.
They’re also holding a ‘Big Fat Bingo of the Year’ (we don’t see any trademark issues whatsoever…), including one for NYE.
As one of the best nights out, not just in the North but in the country, they’re hoping to send you into 2026 singing, dancing, laughing, and hopefully with some lasting memories and maybe a prize or two.
Confirming the latest raft of shows starting this month, you can expect all the usual Bongo’s madness and more, plus all the bells and whistles, as well as plenty of tinsel and holiday cheer.
We’d love a new hoover for Christmas, to be fair. (Credit: Press shot)
Returning to Albert Hall as it regularly does throughout the rest of the calendar, Bongo’s Bingo is promising to give Manchester a Christmas and New Year’s period they’ll never forget.
As they put it, the hosts will be “transporting everyone back to the time when coloured tree lights and flammable tinsel ruled supreme, because the halcyon days of turkey with all the trimmings, mini bottles of Babycham and not a naughty elf in sight are BACK big time at Bongo’s Bingo.”
Bloomin’ ‘eck, they don’t half know how to get a crowd fired up even before they’re in the room, do they?
Set to deliver all the best festive tunes, “dodgy Santa Clauses” – their words, not ours – as well as plenty of foil hats fresh from the Christmas cracker, they’ll be partying with us Mancs multiple times throughout December, not to mention a bonus show at the end of November as we fully swap autumn for winter.
As for the ‘Twixmas’/’Christmas gooch’ period (again, not our words…), the format will then switch to the Big Fat Bingo of the Year, with quiz elements featuring all the biggest memes, tunes and cultural moments of 2025.
You can see the full list of Bongo’s Bingo festive dates for 2025 down below:
Bongo’s Bingo Christmas Cracker and Big Fat Bingo of the Year dates
Christmas Cracker
November – Fri, 28
December – Sat 6 Dec (day and night), Sat 20 Dec, Sun 21 (day), Mon 22 and Tues 23
Big Fat Bingo Of The Year
Sat, 27 Dec (day and night), Sun 28 (day) and NYE 2025
If you’re interested in booking onto Bongo’s Bingo this Christmas and/or New Year’s, you can find out more information and grab your tickets right HERE.
The Manc -
11th January 2022 
