John Lewis To Provide Full Sick Pay For Unvaccinated As It's 'Not Right' Not To

Bosses of the retail giant said they don't 'believe it's right' to treat people differently based on their medical history.

John Lewis's Operations Director Andrew Murphy says he would 'cast no judgment' and suggested that the company was 'not going to make any change of this type'.

"At the John Lewis Partnership we’re not going to make any change of this type. 

"We’re hugely supportive of the UK vaccination programme (we give ‘free’ time off to all Partners to get their vaccination and we've provided our Bracknell sports hall to the NHS as a vaccination centre since the very start of the jab roll-out, providing 160,000 jabs).

"We just don’t believe it’s right to create a link between a Partner’s vaccination status and the pay they receive."

He added: "Leadership teams from every business have had to work incredibly hard to navigate the Covid years.

"There has been no map, guidebook or training programme to help anyone find the best way through. Very often, there's just a choice between a range of unappealing options. 

"We cast no judgement on the decisions of any other organisation, in fact we've enjoyed how united businesses - retailers especially - have been in the face of these huge corporate and societal challenges.

"However, when life increasingly seems to present opportunities to create division - and with hopes rising that the pandemic phase of Covid may be coming to an end - we're confident that this is the right approach for us."

In the comments section, one user asked: "Would you still take future staff on if they haven’t been jabbed?"

To which, the director replied: "Yes."

Speaking about the news, a spokesperson for Ikea said it will, however, be considered on a case by case basis.

The store said: "We appreciate that this is an emotive topic and all circumstances will be considered on a case by case basis.

"Therefore, anyone in doubt or concerned about their situation is encouraged to speak to their manager."