Over 70 and told to stay away from work

[Dhmellor]

I'm a freelance singer. I am 71 years old, and I am 100% fit and healthy. One of the organisations I work for (a cathedral) has just informed me that because I am over 70 I may not work for them now because of the Corona virus. No other singer has been stood down.
My understanding is that government advice to everyone, irrespective of age, is that we should all engage in 'social distancing', and should work from home if possible. But I read this as advice to me, as an employee and and an individual. As I understand it, it is for me, not one of my employers, to decide how to deal with this advice. It feels very much like age discrimination to me. Am I right?

[ostell]

Well, it looks like church services have been cancelled as well, on order of the archbishop.

[Dhmellor]

No, services are continuing with the other singers.*

[ULA]

You say that you are freelance singer, I just want to clarify that you are not directly employed by any of the church/cathedral establishments you sing from. If you are not an employee then you would not have any employment rights such as age discrimination.

Given there has been an announcement by Christian leaders that public worship will be suspended indefinitely except weddings and funerals this may be academic.*

*

[meellis]

At this current time and with all the world is facing with the coronavirus I really am beginning to see how people have lost the true larger picture of the lives we lead. Whether you are fit and well at 71, and there is a good chance you are fitter than me at the tender age of 52, the medical truth is that all of our immune systems decrease with age however well we have looked after ourselves. This means that if we are unfortunate enough to catch the virus the less likely it is that our own immune systems can deal with it without the help of our much understaffed, under funded and overworked health service. Hence there is more likelihood that these scarce resources are being used to treat people who didn't feel they need to follow the advice as opposed to the people who have or are already needing treatment for all the other health issues that are already there for the health system to deal with, remember all the other life threatening issues don't stop just because there is a new virus in town. I am truly sorry that your thoughts are primarily based around whether you have been discriminated against due to your age instead of the fact that people are having to make difficult decisions to safeguard others.I don't usually rant so thank you for the opportunity to get this off of my mind but at the moment I am finding the attitude of the people who are being told that they might have to take a step back from normal life, for the good of everybody, just as selfish as the bulk buyers who are stopping the needy getting vital supplies and the ignorant who come back from another country and decide that isolation is only for other people.
Rant over, good look if you pursue a claim based on your self importance.

[Dhmellor]

You say that you are freelance singer, I just want to clarify that you are not directly employed by any of the church/cathedral establishments you sing from. If you are not an employee then you would not have any employment rights such as age discrimination.

At this particular establishment I am an employee, albeit an occasional one. But I am on the payroll and am taxed via PAYE.

A few days after I posted this the rest of the singers were also stood down as all sung services were suspended. Let's see what happens if/ when something like normal life is resumed.

Re the other response (the ranty one), I was amused to be described as 'self-important' by some who calls themself a 'VIP Member' :-). But seriously, I do take the point, and of course no-one wants to put unnecessary pressure on the NHS. But the law is the law. We know that people from BAME backgrounds who catch Covid-19 are much more likely that white people to suffer it seriously and even fatally. So does that mean it's OK for an employer to send a black person home from work?

[meellis]

Thank you for calling me the ranty one because, as I stated, I don't usually rant. Things have certainly moved on from your original post and we seem to know a little more about Covid-19 than we did then but we still don't know enough. I don't know who as stated that people from BAME are more likely to suffer it more seriously than white people as you put it. BAME is black, Asian and ethnic minority so it isn't as simple*as black or white and as far as I am aware they are unsure whether there is anything genetic about it*or whether it is more cultural. Some of the experts seem to think that some people just get higher doses of the infection than others due to exposure which could be as much to do with the type of work people do or the close nit communities that they reside in but it is all conjecture as opposed to facts because they still don't know enough. Before you feel I am here to defend ethnic minorities because I am one it is not the case. I am white and English born and bred, I live with my soon to be 80year old father who ,like yourself took it personally when he was told to isolate at home for at least 12 weeks. I also have my other half and 4year old daughter at home so knowing now that younger, healthier people*are still at risk is worrying and is contrary to what they experts were saying back when you made your original post. My 54 year old brother is having to isolate with his wife and son because my brother has COPD so they cannot go out or have normal contact with their daughter, son in law and grand daughter so we are all suffering hardships through this.
As you say the law is the law and in any other time you might have suffered age discrimination but in these uncertain times a great deal of "normal life" is completely out of the window so it would probably be ok for an employer to send a black person home from work. This would be on the proviso that the government had said there was a greater risk to BAME people which they haven't said as yet. At the time you were sent home though the government had stated that the over 70's were at greater risk and had since gone on to say that the over 70's were to shield themselves as much as possible from contact with others.By the way I don't consider myself VIP, far from it, that is just a title you receive from the forum if you are a full member so you can access the conversations*that are necessarily not on the open forum.***