There have been thousands of column inches devoted to what Labour is going to do when it comes to employment law – some of it true, some of it less so.
But one thing that seems pretty certain (albeit without a specific time frame) is that they’ll make Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) a day-one right that applies to ALL staff.
What is Statutory Sick Pay?
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) was introduced in 1983. The amount increases every April and is currently £116.75/week.
All workers are entitled to it as long as:
- Their average pay in the previous 8 weeks (or shorter if they have only just started working for you) is above the lower earnings limit (LEL) – currently £123/week.
- The LEL increases every year (and is also the amount that you have to earn before you start paying national insurance).
- They have been off for more than 3 days in a row (including non-working days)
Your payroll will have the SSP rules automatically saved in it.
What is changing?
The proposed changes are that SSP will be payable from day one of illness. The 3-day waiting period will be scrapped.
There is evidence that the waiting-days rule is having an indirectly discriminatory impact on women.
Research from TUC and Centre for Progressive Change has shown that 69% of those who currently have to wait until the fourth day of illness before receiving any support are women, as they tend to be in the lower paid jobs where their employers do not top up the SSP to the full rate.
Additionally, the average pay requirement will no longer apply – all staff will be entitled to SSP, no matter how much they earn.
In some cases, that could mean that they could earn more by being sick than by coming to work:
On minimum wage they would have to work fewer than 10.75 hours a week or 1.5 hours per day to earn less than the LEL, which is £123/week or £17.57/day.
SSP is currently £16.67/day.
Both of these amounts cannot be lived on.
However, currently, the employees can self-certify sickness for the first seven calendar days. That may well change if they are entitled to SSP from day one.
How will it affect you?
If you already pay more than SSP for sickness absence, the change for you will be minimal.
If you only pay SSP, you will need to pay for the additional three days at the beginning of the sickness absence.
When is it happening?
Right now, it’s just speculation, albeit speculation that’s rather concrete than most.
Once we have complete confirmation, we’ll be in touch to let you know what needs to happen and by when.
