THE Government has confirmed a major change to statutory sick pay rules that will impact millions of workers.
Previously only those earning an average of more than £123 a week were eligible for Statutory Sick Pay.
Those who qualified received £116.75 a week if they were too ill to work.
But today the Government confirmed plans to reform Statutory Sick Pay that will impact millions of workers.
Liz Kendall, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, said: “We are introducing the biggest reforms to employment support in a generation with our £240million get Britain working plan.
“Our plans to give Statutory Sick Pay for one million of the lowest paid workers and more rights to flexible working will help keep more people in work.”
She said that this will prove a decisive shift towards prevention and early intervention.
Around 300,000 people fall out of work due to health conditions, she said.
She added: “We’ve got to do far more to help people stay in work and get back to work quickly.
“Your chances of returning are five times higher in the first year.”
The plan to Make Work Pay was first announced earlier this month.
At the time the Government confirmed its commitment to “ensure the new system provides a fair earnings replacement for people earning below the current rate of Statutory Sick Pay”.
[bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=”Three key benefits that YOU could be missing out on, and one even gives you a free TV Licence” embed=”in-page” experience_id=”” height=”100%” language_detection=”” max_height=”360px” max_width=”640px” min_width=”0px” mute=”” padding_top=”56%” picture_in_picture=”” player_id=”default” playlist_id=”” playsinline=”” sizing=”responsive” video_id=”6345562212112″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”]The changes will mean up to 1.3million people on low wages who become ill will either receive 80% of their average weekly earnings or the rate of Statutory Sick Pay, which will be £118.75 per week from April – whichever is lowest.
The move means some of the lowest earners will be up to £100 better off per week, compared to the current system.
[authenticated-scripts src=”%3Cscript%20class%3D%22palin-poll%22%20src%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thesun.co.uk%2Fpollingwidgets%2Fv3%2Fwidget.js%3Fquestion_id%3D109532%26game%3Dpolling%22%3E%3C%2Fscript%3E” type=”embedded” width=”100″ /]The new rules will apply to England, Wales and Scotland.
This will be set in law through a Government amendment to the Employment Rights Bill.
The Government said an 80% rate will help to provide financial security to employees who need it while limiting additional costs to businesses.
It added that the 80% rate will help to protect those on lower incomes from falling into financial hardship.
Meanwhile, it will also better enable people to take the time off they need to recover.
The Government believes the changes will help to prevent the spread of infectious diseases, cut the overall rate of sickness absence, reduce presenteeism and benefit the economy.
What else was announced?
The announcement comes as part of a sweeping package of benefit cuts that were unveiled today to help cut the costs of the UK’s welfare system.
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall said the current social security system is “failing the very people it is supposed to help and holding our country back”.
Among the key measures are huge reform to personal independence payments (PIP) and changes to the way Universal Credit is given to the disabled, unemployed and sick.
These include:
- Merging Jobseekers’ Allowance and Employment Support Allowance, where people who have worked get more than those who have not
- Scrapping the Work Capability Assessment by 2028, with all health payments made via PIP in the future
- Under-22s to be banned entirely from claiming Universal Credit incapacity benefits
- An above-inflation rise to the standard allowance of Universal Credit, but the highest incapacity payment cut
- A much higher bar for people to claim Personal Independence Payments to save £5billion a year
- A “right to try” scheme that allows jobless Brits to have a go at working without losing their benefits if they cannot manage
The Government plans to make savings of up to £6billion through these changes.
Liz Kendall also unveiled details of these reforms in Parliament this afternoon.
At the same time, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) released its green paper outlining the changes.
This will be subject to a consultation in the coming months.
Read our article to find out exactly what the changes could mean for you.