The UK workforce expanded in the three months to February, driven by young people leaving full-time education and moving into work, but the longer-term problem of rising ill-health continues to worsen, the Resolution Foundation said in response to the latest ONS labour market statistics yesterday.
The UK workforce continued to expand in recent months, with employment up 170,000 on the quarter, and economic inactivity down 230,000. The fall in inactivity was driven by full-time students: the number of people inactive due to being a full-time student was down 180,000 on the quarter.
The labour market has loosened overall, with short-term unemployment (up to 6 months) rising by 52,000 to above normal pre-pandemic levels, and vacancies falling by 47,000 on the quarter.
Less encouragingly, inactivity among older workers aged 50-64 remains high – up 298,000 on pre-pandemic levels – while the number of people inactive due to ill-health rose to a record high of over 2.5 million.
Reversing this trend – which predated the pandemic – is a huge priority that is likely to take years to address, says the Foundation, and a key test of the new Health and Disability White Paper.
Nominal pay growth strengthened in February, driven by the gap between public-sector (5.3 per cent) and private sector (6.1 per cent) pay growth closing. However, with inflation still at double digits, pay packets continue to shrink in real terms.
Louise Murphy, Economist at the Resolution Foundation, said:“Britain’s workforce continued to expand in early 2023 as thousands of full-time students moved into work. But while the young entered work, but the old and sick did not. Reversing these trends are a major problem for policy makers across government to confront.
“Strong growth in the public sector has helped to close the gap in pay growth with the private sector. But the picture remains that almost all workers across Britain are seeing their pay packets shrink in real terms, which will continue for the foreseeable future.”
Commenting on the Resolution Foundation’s Low Paid Britain Report, which criticises the UK’s lack of decent sick pay, TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said: “Nobody should be plunged into financial hardship if they become sick.
“But Britain has one of the most miserly sick pay rates in Europe.
“This is disproportionately punishing low-paid workers and leaving them without a safety net.
“We must fix our broken sick pay system by making statutory sick pay available from day one and raising it to the level of the real living wage.
“The lack of decent sick pay cost us dear during the pandemic. The government should have learned this lesson.”
On the need for a higher minimum wage and sector-wide fair pay agreements, Paul Nowak added: “Let’s not kid ourselves. Low-paid workers remain under huge financial strain.
“Energy bills have shot up by £67 a month and food prices are through the roof.
“It’s time to put an end to low-pay Britain once and for all. That means getting the minimum wage to £15 per an hour as soon as possible.
“And it means introducing industry-wide fair pay agreements so that all workers have a minimum set of pay and rights.”
NEW POLLING reveals the extent to which low-paid workers have borne the brunt of the pandemic
NEW POLLING reveals the extent to which low-paid workers have borne the brunt of the pandemic
TUC analysis shows three industries furthest away from recovery are all low-paid and have highest rates of furlough use
TUC warns the end of furlough and Universal Credit cut will be a hammer blow for low-paid workers
Union body says without an economic reset post-pandemic the government’s levelling up agenda will be “doomed to failure”
The coronavirus crisis has been “a tale of two pandemics”, the TUC said today as it calls for an urgent “economic reset” to tackle the huge class divide in Britain that has been exposed by the pandemic.
The call comes as the union body publishes new polling which shows how low-income workers have borne the brunt of the pandemic with little or no option to work from home, no or low sick pay and reduced living standards, while better-off workers have enjoyed greater flexibility with work, financial stability and increased spending power.
Pandemic class divide
New TUC polling, conducted by Britain Thinks, has revealed the extent of the pandemic class divide with the high-paid more financially comfortable than before, while the low-paid have been thrust into financial difficulty:
Low-paid workers (those earning less than £15,000) are almost twice as likely as high-paid workers (those earning more than £50,000) to say they have cut back on spending since the pandemic began (28 per cent compared to 16 per cent)
High earners are more than three times likely than low-paid workers to expect to receive a pay rise in the next 12 months (37 per cent compared to 12 per cent).
This Covid class divide isn’t just apparent on personal finances. The polling also shows how low-paid workers are markedly more likely to get low or no sick pay compared to higher earners:
Low-paid workers are four times more likely than high-paid workers to say they cannot afford to take time off work when sick (24 per cent compared to six per cent).
Only a third (35 per cent) of low-paid workers say they get full pay when off sick compared to an overwhelming majority of high-paid workers (80 per cent)
The TUC has long been calling for an increase to statutory sick pay, which stands at a derisory £96.35 a week, and from which more than two million low-paid workers – mostly women – are currently excluded because they do not earn enough to qualify.
The union body recently criticised the government decision to “abandon” these two million workers by failing to expand eligibility of sick pay, as they had previously promised.
This lack of decent sick pay is compounded by the fact that low-paid workers are more than three times more likely than high-paid workers to say they their job means they can only work outside the home (74 per cent compared to 20 per cent).
This means that low-paid workers face greater risk of contracting the virus at work, and when ill, often face the impossible choice of doing the right thing but losing income or keeping full pay but potentially spreading the virus.
Low-paid industries lag
New TUC analysis shows that the three industries furthest away from a jobs recovery – arts and entertainment, accommodation and food and ‘other services’ – are all ‘low paid’ industries.
These are also the three industries with the highest furlough rates according to HMRC stats, and three of the highest according to most recent ONS estimate.
The end of furlough poses a serious threat to low-paid jobs in these industries – and combined with the “senseless” Universal Credit cut – will be a hammer blow for low-paid workers and push many further into hardship, the union body says.
Time for an economic reset
The TUC says its analysis and poll findings paint a picture of stark inequality in the UK, which has been further entrenched through the coronavirus crisis, and show that the country needs an urgent “economic reset” post-pandemic.
The union body warns that without such a reset, the government’s levelling up agenda will be “doomed to failure” as ministers risk repeating the same mistakes which followed the financial crisis, allowing insecure work to spiral even further.
To prevent unnecessary hardship in the coming months, the TUC is calling on the government to:
Extend the furlough scheme for as long as is needed to protect jobs and livelihoods and put in place a permanent short-time working scheme to protect workers at times of economic change
Cancel the planned £20 cut to Universal Credit
And as part of a post-pandemic reset, the TUC says ministers must:
Ban zero hours contracts
Raise the minimum wage immediately to at least £10
Increase statutory sick pay to a real Living Wage and make it available to all
Introduce new rights for workers to bargain for better pay and conditions through their unions
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Everyone deserves dignity at work and a job they can build a life on. But too many working people – often key workers – are struggling to pay the bills and put food on the table.
“It has been a tale of two pandemics. This Covid class divide has seen low-paid workers bear the brunt of the pandemic, while the better off have enjoyed greater financial security, often getting richer.
“This should be a wake up call – we need an economic reset. It’s time for a new age of dignity and security at work.
“Without fundamental change, the government’s own levelling up agenda will be doomed to failure. And we risk repeating the same old mistakes of the past decade – allowing insecure work to spiral even further.
“Ministers must start by banning zero-hours contracts, raising the minimum wage with immediate effect and increasing statutory sick pay to a real Living Wage, making it available to all.
“And we know that the best way for workers to win better pay and conditions at work is through their union.”
On the risk to low-paid workers this autumn, Frances said: “The imminent end to the furlough scheme and cut to Universal Credit this autumn will be a hammer blow for low-paid workers and could plunge millions into hardship, many of whom are already teetering on the edge.
“The government must reverse its senseless decision to cut Universal Credit and extend the furlough scheme for as long as is needed to protect jobs and livelihoods.”
New research by Acas has found that a quarter of British employers have not been giving their staff paid time off for COVID-19 vaccinations and have no plans to allow it.
Acas commissioned YouGov to ask businesses in Britain about whether they would be giving staff paid time for COVID vaccination appointments. The poll found that:
Six out of ten (59%) have been giving staff paid time off;
4% have not been doing it but plan to in the future; and
18% did not know.
Acas advice is that employers should support staff to get the vaccine once it is offered to them. This support could include ensuring employees have paid time off for COVID vaccine reasons.
Susan Clews, Acas Chief Executive, said: “The vaccine rollout programme has gone well and our survey reveals that most employers have allowed staff paid time off to get the jab but a quarter have not.
“Our study also reveals that a similar number of bosses have not paid full company sick pay to staff who have been unable to work due to side effects from the vaccine.
“It’s in businesses best interests to have a vaccine policy that supports staff to take time off as fully vaccinated workers are less likely to need longer periods of time off work to recover from COVID-19.”
The poll also asked businesses about whether they would be paying full company sick pay to staff who are off sick with COVID vaccine side effects.
It found that:
A quarter (26%) had not been paying full company sick pay and had no plans to change;
Half (50%) were already paying full sick pay;
6% have not been doing it but plan to in the future; and
12% did not know.
To support staff to get the vaccine, Acas advice is that employers may want to consider paid time off for vaccination appointments and paying staff their usual rate of pay if they are off sick with vaccine side effects.
Some organisations may have a review or ‘trigger’ point to keep track of sickness absence for their staff. Acas advice is that employers could consider not counting vaccine-related time off sick as part of this absence record system.
A third of key workers (33%) say they do not get full sick pay
A quarter of key workers (24%) say they get only £96pw statutory sick pay
Extending sick pay protection to all workers would cost the same as just 1% of the test and trace budget
New analysis published by the TUC shows that one in 12 key workers (788,000 people) do not qualify for statutory sick pay (SSP) – despite many of them being at greater risk from Covid-19 due to the frontline nature of their job.
The analysis uses the same definition of key worker as government. It finds that those excluded from SSP include more than a quarter of cleaners (27%) and retail workers (26%); nearly one in 10 teaching assistants (9%); and over one in 20 care workers (6%).
Additional figures from polling for the TUC by BritainThinks show that, for those who self-identify as key workers in the context of the Covid pandemic, a third (33%) report getting less than full sick pay (below their usual rate of pay); and a quarter (24%) report getting only the minimal protection of SSP at just £96 per week.
The TUC is calling for sick pay to be reformed so that:
The lower earnings limit rule is removed, allowing the lowest paid workers to qualify for statutory sick pay for the first time
The rate of SSP is raised to at least the level of the real living wage (£330 per week).
Research commissioned by the TUC from the Fabian Society shows that the cost of raising SSP to the equivalent of the real Living Wage for employers without an occupational sick pay scheme would be around £110 per employee per year – or just over £2 a week.
The research also shows that removing the lower earnings limit, which prevents those on low earnings from accessing statutory sick pay, would cost employers a maximum of £150m a year. And it would cost the government less than one per cent of the test and trace scheme to support employers with this cost.
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Nobody should have to choose between going into work if they’re sick or should be self-isolating, or doing the right thing by staying home, but facing hardship as a result. But that’s the choice facing many key workers who kept the country going during the pandemic.
“Our key workers deserve the dignity, security and safety of proper sick pay and a decent pay rise too. They have earned it, often in frontline jobs with much greater risk of infection than those who could work from home.
“The cost of fixing the UK’s broken sick pay system is small compared to other public health measures like test and trace. Ministers must urgently make every worker eligible for statutory sick pay. And it should be worth at least as much as the real Living Wage.”
The Fabian Society report Statutory Sick Pay: Options for reform is available here:
Health and social care workers made up 70% of reported occupational deaths, GMB Freedom of Information request reveals
More than 350 deaths and 31,000 infections have been linked to Covid-19 exposure at work, new Health and Safety Executive (HSE) figures reveal.
The data, released in response to a GMB Freedom of Information request, shows that 31,000 the suspected cases of occupational exposure to coronavirus were reported to the Health and Safety Executive between 10 April 2020 and 13 March 2021.
367 workers’ deaths were suspected to be linked to workplace exposure to the coronavirus during the same period.
It’s likely the figures significantly underestimate the true extent of exposure and deaths among workers, warned the GMB Union.
GMB calls for urgent investment to make workplaces safe and full sick pay cover so that workers can afford to self-isolate.
Health and social care workers accounted for the overwhelming majority of infections and deaths notified under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR). 70 per cent of occupational deaths, or 257 fatalities, were recorded for workers in this group.
In total, 2,134 staff infections and seven deaths that were linked to workplace exposure were also recorded in educational settings since the start of September, despite Ministers’ repeated assurances that schools and other educational establishments were safe.
Occupational infections peaked in January at 5,710 and the highest monthly count of worker deaths (60) was recorded in February, according to the figures.
26,705 infections were reported in England since 10 April 2020, while 2,228 infections were reported in Wales and 2,447 were reported in Scotland. Northern Ireland is not covered by the figures.
Reports of infections and deaths should be filed ‘where there is reasonable evidence that the worker was exposed because of their work,’ according to the HSE, which means that many infections that cannot be directly attributed to a person’s work will not be recorded. The HSE acknowledges that ‘RIDDOR suffers from under-reporting’ and that ‘it is likely that [COVID-19] disease reporting is lower’ than the true rate.
The new figures, which had not previously been published, were uploaded to the HSE’s website following a GMB Freedom of Information Act request. The Information Commissioner’s Office issued a Decision Notice last week which required the HSE to reply to the request after it initially failed to respond.
Rehana Azam, GMB National Secretary, said: “No one should go to work in fear of their life. Each worker’s death was preventable and the damning reality is that too many workplaces are still not safe.
“The fact that 70% of reported workers’ deaths are in the health and care sector should be a wake-up call, and sadly these figures are likely the tip of the iceberg.
“Two thousand infections and seven deaths in educational workplaces since September is the final proof that Ministers reopened schools before they were safe.
“Across the country too many people still face insecure workplaces and inadequate PPE.
“These figures shine a new light on the abject failure of too many to keep workplaces safe. Seven out of ten reported infections were since the start of the second wave, when the steps required to limit the spread of the virus were well understood.
“GMB calls on Ministers to urgently meet with unions, and for full sick pay cover to be provided to end the financial pressure that is leading to presenteeism and a greater spread of this terrible disease.’
Millions of British workers are putting themselves and others at risk of Covid-19 due to inadequate sick pay and pressure from their employers, new research shows.
The RSA (royal society for arts, manufactures and commerce) warns that a growing ‘economic security trap’ — the choice workers face between protecting their income and their health — is contributing significantly to the spread of the virus.
Polling carried out between 13 Jan and 15 Jan by Yonder (formerly Populus) of UK workers finds:
around one-in-25 (4%) British workers has worked within 10 days of a positive test, rising to one-in-ten (10%) of those in insecure work such as a zero-hours contract, agency work or the gig economy
6% of British workers have worked with Covid-19 symptoms, rising to 8% of insecure workers and 13% of the self-employed
12% have been ordered into work when they could have easily and more safely worked from home
only 16% think Statutory Sick Pay is sufficient to meet their needs.
The RSA calls for an emergency package to address economic insecurity, including:
Recent RSA research on key workers has found that many staff in key industries report struggling to take time off when unwell, including 29% of those working in social care.
The RSA has a long-running programme of research dedicated to tackling economic insecurity in the UK. Last year the organisation published A Blueprint for Good Work, putting forward practical solutions for providing good work after the pandemic.
Alan Lockey, head of RSA’s future work programme, said: “Our polling shows that millions feel forced to put themselves and others at risk of the virus because of insecure work, pressure from bosses, and the failings of our deeply inadequate welfare state.
“Rishi Sunak must close this ‘economic security trap’ — the terrible trade-off many workers face between their health and putting food on the table — by allowing self-isolating workers to access the furlough scheme, and retaining the £20 per week uplift in universal credit.
“We also need to see help for the millions currently excluded, through no fault of their own – and the self-employed in particular. An ’emergency basic income’ style scheme, using the current tax infrastructure, is the best way to help reach all this group and close the gaps which we believe are helping to increase the infection rate.”
The Government should use the Job Retention Scheme (JRS) to encourage more workers to self-isolate at home – a key part of the strategy to fight Covid-19 that the current sick pay regime is failing to support – according to new research published by the Resolution Foundation.
The report – Time Out – explores the eligibility, generosity and efficacy of the UK’s statutory sick pay regime and Test and Trace payments during the Covid-19 crisis, and considers the case for reform.
It concludes that with self-isolating continuing to play a crucial role in fighting Covid-19 throughout 2021 as the vaccine is rolled-out, and with the Head of Test and Trace Dido Harding admitting that financial difficulty means some people are refusing to self-isolate, the current system needs to be replaced with a more effective regime.
The report notes that the main support available for employees asked to self-isolate at home is Statutory Sick Pay (SSP). But at just £96 a week, SSP offers the lowest level of Government support provided across any advanced economy during the pandemic. SSP replaces less than a quarter of a typical employee’s previous earnings, compared to an OECD average replacement rate of 60 per cent.
Furthermore, two million employees earning less than £120 a week are not eligible for SSP – a barrier that excludes one-in-four part-time workers, and one-in-seven workers in retail, hospitality and leisure – leaving them with no income at all if they self-isolate at home.
The UK Government has implicitly acknowledged the limitations of SSP by introducing £500 Test and Trace Support Payments (TTSP) for individuals entitled to benefits.
However, the report finds that these more generous payments are not reaching enough people, with only one-in-eight workers entitled to them. For example, data supplied by local authorities across West Yorkshire – an area which has had one of the highest infection rates in the UK over recent months – showed that just 1,783 payments have been made between 12 October and 25 November.
With financial support for self-isolating at home playing a critical role in helping to bring Covid infections down, the report calls for a more effective, generous and easy to deliver support regime to be put in place – using the JRS, Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) and Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).
The Foundation proposes the following support:
Employees to be paid via the JRS. Extending the JRS to include self-isolation payments would ensure workers retained 80 per cent of their previous earnings. The Foundation estimates this would cost £426 million a month (up from around £112 million which is spent on SSP) if 643,000 employees used the scheme.
Self-employed workers to be paid pro-rata via the SEISS. Grants of up £830 should be awarded to self-employed workers who need to self-isolate for ten days, if they haven’t already claimed.
Self-employed workers not entitled to SEISS to be paid via enhanced ESA. The many self-employed workers not eligible for the SEISS are entitled to ESA. This payment should be uprated by £20 to £96 a week – in line with the uprating of Universal Credit – while people are asked to self-isolate.
The Foundation adds that while the following package of measures would help to get Covid infections down, the failure of the UK’s sick pay regime should not be forgotten once the pandemic has passed. Permanent reforms to both its eligibility, generosity and operation will be needed, it says.
Maja Gustafsson, Researcher at the Resolution Foundation, said:“Getting people to self-isolate at home is one of the important tools we have in combatting Covid-19. But asking workers to do that often involves a major financial sacrifice – and the UK’s sick pay regime has been woefully inadequate in providing the necessary support. Many more Covid infections will have taken place as a result.
“Coronavirus vaccines will take many months to roll out, so more workers will need to self-isolate at home to contain the spread of the virus next year. Given the failure of the current sick pay regime, the Government must turn now to the far more successful job support schemes to provide workers and firms with the financial support they need to do the right thing.”
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady commented: “The lack of decent sick pay has been a gaping hole in the government’s Covid strategy. Asking workers to self-isolate on £96 a week is not viable – especially when many don’t have savings to fall back on.”
She warned: “This problem needs fixing urgently. Until people are given sick pay they can survive on they will be forced to choose between following the health advice and paying their bills. Nobody should be plunged into financial hardship for doing the right thing.
“Sick pay should be raised to at least the rate of the real living wage and everyone should be entitled to it. It’s not right that two million workers are excluded from it because they do not earn enough.”
TUC polling published in September revealed that more than 4 in 10 workers would be plunged into financial hardship if forced to self-isolate for two weeks on SSP.
The TUC is spearheading a #SickPayForAll campaign.
The union body says that as we move into winter, cases of coronavirus are surging rapidly. It adds that no one should be faced with both illness and the fear of being plunged into debt.
The TUC says however that 2 million people do not even qualify for sick pay.
Its petition demands the government scrap the minimum earnings threshold for statutory sick pay, increase the weekly level of sick pay to at least £330 per week, and give employers the resources to afford sick pay for their workers.
The TUC argues that even for those who do qualify, the current payment of £95.85 a week is not enough to pay the bills. Four in 10 workers would be forced into financial hardship.
“At a time of skyrocketing cases, fixing statutory sick pay can prevent the spread of the virus and ensure millions can get paid to quarantine safely at home,” the TUC #SickPayForAll petition notes.
It adds: “No one who self-isolates should worry about putting food on the table. No one should feel forced to go to work instead of recovering from the virus. Everyone has the right to decent sick pay.”
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.
