Unions demand an increase in the statutory sick pay

A group of 24 leaders from unions have written to the Prime Minister urging him to move forward with the plans for reforming statutory sick pay.

The Employment Rights Bill gives employees the right of claiming SSP on their first day being sick. It is expected to increase by PS2 per week to PS118.75 in April.

Union leaders say that the government hasn’t gone far enough. They claim that it hasn’t honoured its manifesto promise to increase sick pay and that workers have debts because they are sick.

Safe Sick Pay Campaign, an alliance of over 150 charities, unions, and employers, coordinated the campaign. The letter was signed by 24 generalsecretaries of unions, including the British Medical Association and the Royal College of Nursing.

Unions are in favor of making people eligible for SSP on day one. However, they say the current rate leaves employees with just over PS3 per hour if you take time off.

Professor Phil Banfield of the BMA council chair said that moving onto SSP can mean a significant drop in income, which forces people to return to work before being fit enough to do so, like many doctors who live with Long Covid.

All of this leads to more physical or mental illness, and more sick leaves, leaving the health service with fewer staff.

Professor Banfield stated that an increase in SSP will allow people to recover fully before returning to work. “Without worrying about their ability to afford food or heat, which can lead to increased sickness levels, this would be a great benefit.”

Sarah Woolley, the general secretary of Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union, stated that workers in the food sector are forced to make “impossible decisions” by going to work when they’re sick, because they cannot afford to take time off.

The employment bill provides the perfect opportunity to fix a broken system of statutory sick pay. She said that increasing the rate at which it is paid would ensure workers could recover their health, cover bills and return safely to work.

Amanda Walters, campaign director for the union, stated that unions need a timeline on how sick pay will be increased. She added that “sick pay is still too low for workers to be protected.”

The letter was sent by the unions in response to a campaign launched by charities back in October. They claimed that current and future rates of sick pay will push workers at risk into poverty.

The proposed changes to the Employment Rights Bill, and the tax changes announced by the budget are being criticized by employers and business groups. They claim that they will be too expensive and may lead to job loss.

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