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Made to take a test for work

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Jan Mayen

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I'm required to take a test in order to go to (non-railway) work each day. The test result is reported via the NHS website, which sends a text to my phone. It is this which is checked. No negative test result, no entry.

Does anyone know if this is lawful? (Let's ignore how easy it would be to give a negative result without even taking a test).
I ask as I'm not looking forward to taking a test five or six days a week from now on.
Many thanks.
 
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jp4712

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Yes, it is lawful. I assume your employer is in something called the Daily Contact Testing Scheme, many companies are part of the scheme.
 

Simon11

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Or consider taking advantage as they are being over the top and make a positive test (several ways possible apparently on google), thus getting a week off work.....
 

duncanp

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I'm required to take a test in order to go to (non-railway) work each day. The test result is reported via the NHS website, which sends a text to my phone. It is this which is checked. No negative test result, no entry.

Does anyone know if this is lawful? (Let's ignore how easy it would be to give a negative result without even taking a test).
I ask as I'm not looking forward to taking a test five or six days a week from now on.
Many thanks.

You don't actually have to take the test.

All you need is the serial number for the lateral flow test, and you can then enter the result on the NHS website as negative, which will then result in an e-mail or text "proving" that you are negative.

Or as others have said, you could enter the result as positive and get a weeks sick leave.

Just goes to show what a complete load of ******** this testing regime is.
 

yorkie

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I'm not convinced it's lawful to insist on taking a test, but I don't know for sure.

I do a job that mostly cannot be done from home, we are advised to take tests but it is not mandatory and I have never done one. I wouldn't be cooperating with any mandate, not that I think my employer would ever bring such a thing in; I wouldn't want to work for a company like that.
 

pdq

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I am 'expected' to take at least twice weekly tests, and there is a plentiful supply of test kits to bring home. My employer will have no access to my results, but I want to know that I am not going to put my colleagues at risk.

When my son had a +ve result a couple of months ago, I took a test every day before breakfast, and I would hope that my colleagues would do the same in similar circumstances.
 

Huntergreed

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Not strictly work related, but my university has mandated taking a LFD test before coming onto Campus from the start of this term. As a student teacher in Scotland, I’m also expected to test twice a week before going into school, although this isn’t mandated and I’ve never been asked to produce any result.
 

DelayRepay

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I'm not convinced it's lawful to insist on taking a test, but I don't know for sure.

If it came down to it, a Court might decide it was a reasonable requirement, given it is aligned to Government public health advice and is a measure designed to protect other employees (and maybe members of the public, depending in the job).

My employer 'recommends' doing a LFT before attending an office, but do not mandate it or ask for proof. I cheekily suggested that everyone ought to receive 30 minutes of overtime pay to cover the time taken to complete the test. I was told to stop being silly.

We have boxes and boxes of the things at work as part of a government scheme. An email was sent before Christmas saying if anyone was having trouble getting LTFs, they were welcome to take some from work (for any purpose, not just to prove you could attend work).
 

Kite159

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Or consider taking advantage as they are being over the top and make a positive test (several ways possible apparently on google), thus getting a week off work.....
Assuming the OP gets full pay if they need to isolate.
Otherwise that week off work will be expensive
 

Jan Mayen

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Assuming the OP gets full pay if they need to isolate.
Otherwise that week off work will be expensive
I'd get basic pay, but not overtime.
The not inconsiderable amount of overtime available being caused by people taking tests and then having to isolate, of course... :)
 

bengley

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I have to test weekly in order to participate in training in close quarters. It's not checked or monitored in any way.
 

danm14

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Or consider taking advantage as they are being over the top and make a positive test (several ways possible apparently on google), thus getting a week off work.....
Be aware that reporting a lateral flow test as positive immediately triggers the legal obligation to self isolate. The only way to end that legal obligation early is to obtain a negative PCR test.
 
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James H

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Please consider that whilst covid might be a mild illness if you catch it, for the person you pass it on to it could be much more severe.

Please take testing seriously and don't try to get out for it. It is to help keep you, your family, your colleagues, your community and society at large a little bit safer.
 

roversfan2001

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Please consider that whilst covid might be a mild illness if you catch it, for the person you pass it on to it could be much more severe.
This is true for every virus that has ever circulated amongst humans. I don't recall any testing obsession happening before 2020. The simple "if you feel unwell, stay at home until you feel better" rule of thumb worked perfectly fine.
 

Yew

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Please consider that whilst covid might be a mild illness if you catch it, for the person you pass it on to it could be much more severe.
The same could be said for any common respiratory illness, and we don't do anything special for those.
 

birchesgreen

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You don't actually have to take the test.

All you need is the serial number for the lateral flow test, and you can then enter the result on the NHS website as negative, which will then result in an e-mail or text "proving" that you are negative.

Or as others have said, you could enter the result as positive and get a weeks sick leave.

Just goes to show what a complete load of ******** this testing regime is.
My place also want daily tests for those who work in the office and you are asked to send a photo of the test to your line manager. Of course it is possible to fake a negative test.
 

Mag_seven

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Please consider that whilst covid might be a mild illness if you catch it, for the person you pass it on to it could be much more severe.

Please take testing seriously and don't try to get out for it. It is to help keep you, your family, your colleagues, your community and society at large a little bit safer.

However that risk is much smaller now due to vaccinations.
 

Mojo

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Are they providing tests from a private company or are they NHS tests? In any case it does seem incredibly wasteful given the reported shortage of tests, where people are actually advised to have them because they have been a close contact or want to go into a crowded place.
 

dk1

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We where required to do weekly Randox testing which was sent away for results & then daily temp check to continue training in a bubble with one other. This all stopped in the second half of 2021 when social distancing rules where relaxed.
 

Bantamzen

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Please consider that whilst covid might be a mild illness if you catch it, for the person you pass it on to it could be much more severe.

Please take testing seriously and don't try to get out for it. It is to help keep you, your family, your colleagues, your community and society at large a little bit safer.
Please also consider that every single test obtained from the NHS is taking money from it that could be better purposed. A Freedom of Information request response from someone last year revealed that as of 14.06.21, the cost to the NHS for LFTs was £3.2Bn. That figure is doubtless much, much higher given the expanded level of testing right now.
 

LAX54

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Please consider that whilst covid might be a mild illness if you catch it, for the person you pass it on to it could be much more severe.

Please take testing seriously and don't try to get out for it. It is to help keep you, your family, your colleagues, your community and society at large a little bit safer.
Influenza can be just as serious, and deadly, yet no one really bothers about that, I sometimes get the impression that we are like a dog chasing it's tail ! (and not just us, but the rest of the World !)
 

greyman42

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Please consider that whilst covid might be a mild illness if you catch it, for the person you pass it on to it could be much more severe.

Please take testing seriously and don't try to get out for it. It is to help keep you, your family, your colleagues, your community and society at large a little bit safer.
You could get a job as a spokesperson for SAGE with language like that.
 

island

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I'm required to take a test in order to go to (non-railway) work each day. The test result is reported via the NHS website, which sends a text to my phone. It is this which is checked. No negative test result, no entry.

Does anyone know if this is lawful? (Let's ignore how easy it would be to give a negative result without even taking a test).
I ask as I'm not looking forward to taking a test five or six days a week from now on.
Many thanks.
I don't believe there is anything that would make this unlawful. The most that can be said is that the time you spend taking the test and perhaps the wait for the result could be considered working time, though unless you're on or very close to minimum wage, this is unlikely to make any difference.

One other consideration is how it might work if you are unable to obtain any tests.
 

ASharpe

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We've got loads of LFTs in the cupboard above the stairs, work gave me a load and when I got vaccinated 1st and 2nd time a handful more packs were given to me.

I've never used one but my wife has once or twice. I had a cough once so got a PCR instead and it turned out to just be a cough.

I don't understand why they is a shortage of LFTs all of a sudden.
 

EssexGonzo

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We've got loads of LFTs in the cupboard above the stairs, work gave me a load and when I got vaccinated 1st and 2nd time a handful more packs were given to me.

I've never used one but my wife has once or twice. I had a cough once so got a PCR instead and it turned out to just be a cough.

I don't understand why they is a shortage of LFTs all of a sudden.

From the corrupt and incompetent govt’s viewpoint: less testing = fewer positive results which could mask the severity of the situation the NHS is in.
 

danm14

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I don't understand why they is a shortage of LFTs all of a sudden.
Unvaccinated people need to take them (or at least report a result, which requires a code printed on a test) to access settings which require an NHS Covid Pass.

Plenty of workers and students are, as is the subject of this thread, required to take them (or at least report a result, which requires a code printed on a test) daily or several times a week to attend work or school

Some people who are feeling unwell would prefer to take one over a PCR, because at least if it's positive they can just not report it and avoid being harassed several times a day for a week by Test and Trace

The government pretends there is an obligation to take daily tests if you are a close contact of a Covid case, when in fact there is no such requirement

The government has stated that it is a reasonable excuse to end self isolation up to three days early if you have tested positive, provided you have tested negative on two tests taken one day apart
 

Dent

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From the corrupt and incompetent govt’s viewpoint: less testing = fewer positive results which could mask the severity of the situation the NHS is in.

From what I can see the government have always been doing the complete opposite, over-selling the danger and trying to keep the population in a state of perpetual fear. I haven't seen any evidence of any desire to mask the severity of anything.
 

AlterEgo

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From the corrupt and incompetent govt’s viewpoint: less testing = fewer positive results which could mask the severity of the situation the NHS is in.
People need to decide whether the government is deliberately suppressing testing for this reason or flogging as many tests as possible to help their donor mates.
 
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