Private Coronavirus Test Options

You can no longer obtain free lateral flow tests through the NHS, however, you may still wish for your employees to continue testing to reduce to risk of coronavirus within your workplace. One approach to this problem is to seek out an approved private test provider.

Approved test providers are listed on the GOV.UK site, and these are the only providers you should consider using. This is because they are self-certified as meeting the government’s minimum testing standards, which are enforceable by law.

Private coronavirus tests are not free, so if you are requiring that an employee takes one before attending work, then you must pay for the test, without deducting it from the employee's wages or salary.

Also, when an employee is required to take a coronavirus test for work-related purposes, they are entitled to be paid for that time although, in practice, particularly where the employee conducts the test at home, there might not be that much time involved. However, it’s a different matter if they have to travel somewhere, e.g. to an external testing site. Here, they will need to be paid for their travelling time and during the test.