ACS has called on the Government to give the UK’s convenience store staff “key worker” status so that employees with children can carry on working as normal during the coronavirus outbreak.
From tomorrow, schools in England will close and remain closed until further notice for all except children of key workers and vulnerable children, as part of the ongoing response to the coronavirus outbreak. Schools in Scotland and Wales are already in the process of closing and will be completely shut by the end of the week.
The Government is expected to publish a full list of key workers later today, and has cited NHS staff, police, and supermarket delivery drivers as examples of professions that fall into the key worker category. An estimated 405,000 people work in the UK convenience store industry.
ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “Convenience stores are a lifeline for local people, providing essential goods in communities across Britain to those who can’t go to larger stores, or can’t get products elsewhere. It is essential that the colleagues working in convenience stores are given the reassurance of the key worker status so that they can keep providing that service.”
ACS resources on the ongoing situation with coronavirus are available here.
No comments yet