Sick pay Ministers urged to increase £3 basic rate

Ministers are under pressure to increase the basic rate of statutory sick pay (SSP) from £3 an hour for a full-time worker amid concerns that hundreds of thousands of people a year are left without adequate financial support to pay essential bills while off work.

- Pippa Crerar

The government will launch a consultation today to coincide with the second reading of its employment rights bill, under which workers will get paid sick leave from day one of their employment, with those on earnings below the threshold of £123 a week eligible.

Campaigners have welcomed the changes, but they want ministers to go further and raise sick pay, which is fixed at £116 a week and pegged to the inflation rate.

They argue that the low rate of sick pay pushes vulnerable people into poverty.

In a letter to Keir Starmer, a group of charities including Citizens Advice, Macmillan Cancer Support, Mind and Maggie's called on the government to amend the bill so that ministers can increase sick pay amid the worsening health of working-age people.