Strengthening statutory sick pay for low paid workers

We’d like to gather your views to inform our response on behalf of employers to the government’s consultation to improve statutory sick pay (SSP) for low paid workers. 

To help us do this we are seeking the views from members of HR and payroll to provide a response to our surveys on behalf of your organisation or as individual views. 

More information on the consultation

The UK government has announced, as part of the Employment Rights Bill and its plan to make work pay that it has committed to improving SSP by extending SSP eligibility to those earning below the lower earnings limit (LEL). This will  make it available to all employees and remove the waiting period so that SSP is paid from the first day of absence. 

Currently, for an employee to be eligible to receive SSP they must earn at least the lower earnings limit which is currently £123 per week. This means up to 1.3 million employees across the UK and across all sectors are currently excluded from SSP, with a disproportionate impact on those working in low paid, part time or multiple jobs. 

The government is proposing to extend eligibility to those earning below the LEL, but also recognises that it would be unfair to pay the usual flat rate of SSP (currently £116.75 per week) as they could then earn more than through their normal earnings. 

Therefore, the government is proposing employees would be entitled to a percentage of their average weekly earnings or the flat rate of SSP, whichever is lower. 

The purpose of the consultation is to seek views and feedback on what that percentage rate for those earning below the current rate of SSP should be. The consultation includes some illustrative examples ranging from 60-80 per cent of average earnings, however, it is asking for suggestions on any figure you believe represents a fair replacement rate for those earning below the current rate of SSP. 

The consultation can be read in full on the GOV.UK website and will close on 4 December 2024.