Prime Minister Albanese has made the right and very welcome decision to protect workers by restoring the $750 Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment.
There were 776,000 people who missed work in June due to sickness, and as new variants emerge that number is expected to grow alongside reinfection. It’s not just casual workers who will benefit from this leave being restored, but hundreds of thousands of workers who have run out of sick leave.
Bringing back support payments also ensures that businesses can remain open, and the economy can continue to recover.
Quotes attributable to ACTU Secretary Sally McManus:
“The Health Minister has been very clear that Covid case numbers are expected to increase in coming months as we deal with new variants and reinfection, meaning many workers will be without employer sick leave – restoring Pandemic Disaster Leave Payments is the best way to protect Australians.
“PM Albanese has made the right decision to protect workers and businesses by restoring Pandemic Leave Disaster Payments. The previous Morrison Government should never have set the finish date in the middle of winter.
“Bringing back Pandemic Leave Disaster Payments is very welcome and means that workers will no longer have to decide between isolating with the virus and putting food on the table for their families.”
