Seven million people are being deprived fair pay if they’re off work sick

More than seven million working people would benefit from making Statutory Sick Pay available from day one of sickness, according to new analysis published the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and think tank the Centre for Progressive Change.

Seven million people affected by sick pay

The analysis shows that if the law was changed 7.4 million employees would be able to claim Statutory Sick Pay from their first day of illness instead of having to wait until the fourth day of illness before getting any support. So far, Labour has pledged to change this.

This is over quarter (26%) of all employees. And this rises to more than a third (36%) for people working in elementary occupations like labourers and cleaners, and to nearly two-fifths (39%) for people working in sectors like care and leisure.

Lara, a former bar worker from Manchester, said:

I went to work in the bar when I was coming down with norovirus because I wouldn’t have been eligible for sick pay. I was so ill I was crying and shaking while serving drinks. My manager insisted I went home, but then I lost my whole week’s pay and had to borrow food from my housemates to get by until my next pay packet.

The TUC and Centre for Progressive Change warned that without reform workers across the country will continue to face “a financial cliff edge” if they become sick at work.

Lowest earners hit hardest

The organisations highlighted how under Britain’s current system those on the lowest pay are hit hardest.

Over one million workers currently get no Statutory Sick Pay at all as a result of not meeting the lower earnings limit which currently stands at £123 a week.

And seven in 10 (69%) of those employees missing out on the benefit due to the lower earnings limit are women.

If the Lower Earnings Limit rule was ended so that low earners can qualify for Statutory Sick Pay, the number of workers that stand to benefit would increase by around a million. This estimate is based on TUC analysis showing that 1.15 million employees earn less than the Lower Earnings Limit.

Fair sick pay rights

The TUC and Centre for Progressive Change are calling on all the political parties contesting the general election to commit to:

• Ending the four-day wait for Statutory Sick Pay, so that it is paid from day one of sickness (benefitting seven million workers).
• Giving sick pay protection to low earners, by removing the lower earnings limit (benefitting around one million more workers, over two thirds of whom are women).

The TUC and Centre for Progressive Change say these reforms would make a material difference to workers.

The benefit is currently worth £23.35 a day for an employee working a typical five-day week. With one in eight working age people having less than £100 in savings, every extra day of paid sick leave would make a big difference to many families.

Improved sick pay would also help improve public health by reducing the risk of people going into work when sick and spreading infections.

Sick pay: ‘plunging people into hardship’

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said:

Nobody should be plunged into hardship when they become sick. But millions of workers face a financial cliff edge if they get ill.

Making people wait three days before they get any support is just plain wrong – especially in the current cost of living crisis.

That’s why it is essential that SSP is available from day one and available to all.

Being forced to work through illness is bad for workers and bad for public health.

Amanda Walters, Director of the Centre for Progressive Change which coordinates the Safe Sick Pay campaign, said:

The three unpaid sick pay waiting days means a full-time worker on SSP gets an effective sick pay rate of just £1 an hour. Charities, workers, businesses and trade unions are calling for the next government to change this broken system.

Sick pay that supports workers financially to take the time off they need means they’re at less risk of being forced back to work before they are ready, spreading bugs or harming their own long-term health. This is good for workers, employers and the economy alike.

Featured image via Envato Elements