MP COLUMN : Angela Rayner: No Worker Should Have to Choose Between Health and Hardship

This week, I would like to talk about Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)

I know that the number of workers inactive due to long-term sickness in the United Kingdom is now at a historic high of around 2.8 million people.

Currently 1.5m people earn below the lower earnings limit of £123 per week and people do not currently receive any payment for the first three days of a sickness absence, disproportionately affecting the lowest paid workers working part time, or in low paid multiple jobs.

In my view, no one should be forced to choose between their health and financial hardship. The current Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) rules are complex, outdated and have failed to adequately support those who need it. This is why I support strengthening SSP, so it can provide a safety net for those who need it most.

This new government’s Plan to Make Work Pay commits to remove the Lower Earnings Limit to make SSP available to all workers. It also pledges to remove the waiting period so that SSP can be paid from the first day of sickness absence.

These changes will ensure employees are better protected when they must take time off work. The government has also confirmed that it will continue to keep the rate of SSP under review as part of the annual uprating process.

I am pleased that the House of Commons has already begun consideration of the Employment Rights Bill, which will implement the changes to SSP when it becomes law. This fulfils a manifesto pledge for such legislation to be put before MPs within 100 days of the Government taking office. I am proud to support this Bill because I want to see a new partnership created between business, trade unions and working people.

More widely, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has published a consultation, open until 4 December 2024, on what the percentage replacement rate for those earning below the current flat rate of Statutory Sick Pay should be.