Coronavirus Hub

Emergency volunteering leave - no plans to activate

The government has no plans to activate the statutory provisions which enable workers to take emergency volunteering leave.

The Coronavirus Act 2020 enables the Secretary of State to bring in EVL – a temporary new form of statutory (unpaid) leave for employees and workers who want to volunteer in the health and social care sectors during the current pandemic.

However, a report from the Department of Health and Social Care states that to date there hasn’t been a significant risk to health services and, as such, there are ‘no plans to commence powers at this time.