The pandemic exposed just how precarious work and life is for those on acute low incomes. No one should be forced to choose between their health and financial hardship. Through the Employment Rights Bill, introduced last week, we are strengthening Statutory Sick Pay so it provides a safety net for those who need it most.

We will ensure all employees receive SSP from their first day of sickness absence. These changes will help to keep people in work, grow the economy and protect public health.

The Government has already increased the rate of SSP this year, in April the rate of SSP was increased by 6.7% to £116.75. This represents a £20 per week increase in the rate of SSP since 2021.

SSP is just one part of our welfare safety net and our wider Government offer to support people in times of need. Anybody who is on a low level of income during the period that they are sick and who requires further financial support may be able to claim Universal Credit, depending on their personal circumstances.

The Government has already increased the rate of Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) this year, in April the rate of SSP was increased by the September 2023 CPI of 6.7% to £116.75. This represents a £20 per week increase in the rate of SSP since 2021.

SSP is just one part of our welfare safety net and our wider Government offer to support people in times of need. Anybody who is on a low level of income during the period that they are sick and who requires further financial support may be able to claim Universal Credit, depending on their personal circumstances.

Since 2019 over 500,000 more people now earn above the Lower Earnings Limit (LEL) and can therefore benefit from Statutory Sick Pay (SSP). However, now is not the right time for structural reform of SSP, which includes removing the LEL.

SSP is just one part of our welfare safety net and our wider Government offer to support people in times of need, many of those with earnings below the LEL are already in receipt of benefits, such as Universal Credit.

As with all government policy, Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) policy is kept under review. The department through the Joint work and Health directorate, monitors feedback from correspondence and reviews evidence from a range of organisations. The rate of SSP is also reviewed each year as part of the annual uprating exercise.

The government reviewed SSP as part of both the ‘Work, health and disability green paper: improving lives’ consultation (2017) and the ‘Health is Everyone’s Business consultation’ (2019, HiEB). In response to the HiEB consultation (2021) we maintained that SSP provides an important link between the employee and employer but Ministers confirmed it was not the right time to introduce changes to the sick pay system.

The Government’s 2019 Health is Everyone’s Business Consultation proposed a package of reforms which aimed to reduce ill-health related job loss and support disabled people and people with health conditions to stay in and thrive in work. The consultation looked at the impact the current SSP system had on all workers, including older and disabled workers.

Statutory Sick Pay is administered and paid by employers. Since 2014, employers are not required to report information on Statutory Sick Pay payments therefore this information is not available.

Information on those who earn below the Lower Earnings Limit in Scotland is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

The Department’s latest estimate is that in Quarter 1 of the financial year 2022/23 there were around 1.5 million employees in the UK who earned below the Lower Earnings Limit (LEL). This figure does not include workers who are self-employed. This is an update to the position from the DWP’s 2019 ‘Health is Everyone’s Business’ consultation using data from the Labour Force Survey (LFS).