Statutory Sick Pay will be made available from day one when self-isolating, instead of day four, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced yesterday – but poverty campaigners say this won’t be enough to protect workers.
The move will be included in emergency legislation to deal with coronavirus.
Updating Parliament on the Government’s response, Prime Minister Boris Johnson told MPs: “I can today announce that the Health Secretary will bring forward, as part of our emergency legislation measures, to allow the payment of Statutory Sick Pay from the very first day you are sick instead of four days under the current rules.
“No one should be penalised for doing the right thing.”
Explaining the rationale for the measure, the Prime Minister had earlier said: “We are not at the point yet where we are asking large numbers of people to self-isolate, but that may of course come if large numbers have the symptoms.
“If they stay at home, they are helping to protect all of us by preventing the spread of the virus.”
The change will be a temporary measure to respond to the outbreak and will lapse when it is no longer required.
Statutory Sick Pay is paid by employers, who will know the reason their staff are giving for not being at work and already have some discretion to accept different forms of evidence as proof of sickness.
There is a range of support in place for those who do not receive Statutory Sick Pay, including Universal Credit and contributory Employment and Support Allowance. The move will be included in emergency legislation to deal with coronavirus.
The UK Government has announced it will extend statutory sick pay to start on the first day of being off to enable people to self-isolate in response to the Corona virus. But this won’t be enough to protect workers, says the Poverty Alliance.
Peter Kelly, Director of Poverty Alliance said: ““While we welcome the much needed extension of statutory sick pay, this will not be enough to protect workers who may need to self-isolate in response to the virus.
“Statutory sick pay should be significantly increased from its current level of £94.25 to reflect the cost of living, and the qualifying wage of £118 should be removed.
“If the Corona virus continues to spread at its current rate there is a high risk that many more people will be swept into already staggering levels of poverty in this country.”
“The challenges of responding to the virus highlight existing failings in both the labour market and social security system. Workers on zero hours contracts will have no access to sick leave and have been recommended to apply for Universal Credit. But we know that the five week wait for first payments of the benefit is already driving destitution.
“Immediate safeguards should be introduced for workers who are deemed as self-employed or are on zero or short hours contracts and the scandalous and unnecessary wait for Universal Credit should be brought to an end.”
The TUC has been campaigning for everyone to get sick pay from day one, no matter what they earn.
They are calling on the government to introduce emergency legislation that:
- Gives every worker the right to statutory sick pay from the first day of absence
- Scraps the minimum earnings threshold for statutory sick pay
- Increases the weekly level of sick pay
- Ensures that sick pay is paid to workers having to self-isolate
- Provides funds to ensure employers can afford to pay sick pay and additional support to those who miss out
Sign the petition calling for sick pay for every worker from day one.
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