If staff test positive, Schools are likely to insist on the 5-day isolation period as part of their duty of care to others. In this case, the absence would still be considered due to an infectious disease and would be on full pay (unless they are well enough and able to work from home).
Should Schools have any concerns about staff who have repeat isolation periods, they may choose to consider paying it as sick pay or taking disciplinary action depending on the circumstances of the case. Schools may wish to review their COVID-19 data to see, on average, how often employees have had to isolate, alongside local infection rates when considering appropriate action. The latter would also apply to including it as an absence trigger i.e., in most cases it wouldn’t apply except where the number of isolation periods for the employee is high.
