A group of campaigners has written to the government urging ministers to increase the rate of statutory sick pay.
The letter coincides with the second reading of the Employment Rights Bill, which will give workers the right to SSP from the first day of their illness, rather than the fourth.
The letter has been written by charities including Citizen’s Advice, Macmillan Cancer Support, Mind and Maggie’s.
Currently, SSP is fixed at £116 per week and is linked to the rate of inflation. The campaigners argue that this pushes vulnerable workers into poverty.
The letter states: “Hundreds of thousands of working people who are each year diagnosed with infectious diseases, cancer, mental health problems or serious injuries will still find themselves without adequate financial support to pay essential bills like food, rent and heating.
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“There is a wide-ranging body of evidence, medical, academic and from leading UK think tanks and charities, that suggests the current SSP system harms workers and is self-defeating for employers and the government alike.
“This situation risks holding back the government’s laudable mission to grow the economy and bolster our NHS.”
The letter echoes the findings of research published by WPI Economics, which argues that increasing the rate could reduce absence levels.
Author Matthew Oakley concluded that increasing sick pay could create a £4.1 billion benefit to the economy because people would have fewer long periods of absence and fewer workers would move onto out-of-work benefits.
Rachel Kirby-Rider, Chief Executive at Young Lives vs Cancer said: “When a young person is diagnosed with cancer, their whole life is disrupted. Many have to stop work immediately to get the treatment they need, and treatment and its side effects can keep them off work for a long time.
“But while their usual income may stop, the bills don’t. Our research shows young people spend an extra £700 a month on average when facing cancer, on essential costs such as travel to hospital, food, parking, and rising bills such as heating to keep warm.
“The last thing any young person with cancer should be worrying about when their world has been turned upside down is whether they will get the sick pay they deserve and if they can afford to keep up with their bills.
“We believe all young people with cancer should have access to a safe sick pay system, that provides sufficient financial support so they can stay in or return to employment if they want and if it’s right for them.”
Think tank the Resolution Foundation has called the UK’s sick pay regime “one of the stingiest” in the OECD, pointing out that someone working full time on the national living wage would face a 73% reduction in earnings if they were off sick for a week and reliant on SSP under the government’s plans (although it would be 89% worse off under the current system).
The Employment Rights Bill, which was introduced to parliament on 10 October, goes through its second reading in the House of Commons today.
The TUC has called on MPs to “be on the right side of history” and vote in favour of the bill.
General secretary Paul Nowak said: “It’s time to turn the page on the low-pay, low-rights and low-productivity economy of the last 14 years.
“Driving up employment standards is good for workers and good for business. It will allow people more control and predictability over their working lives – and stop decent employers from being undercut by the bad.”
Consultation
The government has also today launched a consultation on the what the percentage rate of sick pay should be for those earning below the current rate of SSP.
For those with weekly earnings lower than the flat rate for SSP (currently £116.75 per week), the Employment Rights Bill proposes to set SSP payments as a ‘prescribed percentage of the employee’s normal weekly earnings’.
The consultation outlines a number of illustrative examples and potential impacts of different rates on employers and workers. It is open until 4 December.
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