Millions of workers face £3 an hour sick pay despite bill

Campaigners urge government to do more in new legislation

- ALICJA HAGOPIAN

The UK will still have some of the worst protections for unwell people in the developed world despite the government's new bill on employment rights, leaving 8.3 million contracted workers with the equivalent of as little as £3 an hour.

Campaigners are calling on the government to go further on sick pay and make rates more liveable as the Employment Rights Bill is put to a vote in parliament next week.

Currently, around one in four workers in the UK – around 7 million people – are only entitled to receive statutory sick pay (SSP) instead of enhanced sick pay from their employers. SSP amounts to a fixed rate of just £116.75 per week, or £467 per month, for eligible workers.

Dr Matt Padley from Loughborough University warns that the current rate of statutory sick pay is “not enough to live on” and says the knock-on effects are numerous. “Anyone having to rely on SSP for any length of time is likely to see a substantial drop in their income, and if they are unable to return to work for several months, the gap between income and what’s needed to live with dignity will grow,” the social policy researcher told The Independent.

“At the same time, cost-of-living pressures continue and the rate of sick pay – already very low – will fall further and further short of meeting basic material needs.”

The government announced it is extending sick pay to workers earning under £123 a week from day one of their illness. Staff will be paid 80 per cent of their average weekly earning or £116.75 statutory sick pay, whichever is lowest.

While this will mean an extra 1.3 million people will be eligible for the statutory sick pay rate under the changes in the Employment Rights Bill, 8.3 million people in the UK will still receive far less than the living or even minimum wage if they fall sick.