The Safe Sick Pay Campaign is calling for urgent reform to UK Statutory Sick Pay

Statutory Sick Pay needs reform according to a poll by the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP) for the Safe Sick Pay Campaign.

In a snap poll of CIPP members released today, Wednesday 19 April, nearly two thirds (63 per cent) said the rate of sick pay should be higher, with just 11 per cent saying Statutory Sick Pay should be left as it is.

The membership body for professionals in payroll is supporting the Safe Sick Pay Campaign and polled 362 of its members on critical reforms to UK sick pay. More than half of respondents also said employees should get sick pay from day one, not day four.

The Safe Sick Pay Campaign is calling for urgent reform to UK Statutory Sick Pay, including raising the rate from its current rate of less than £100 per week, scrapping the four-day wait before becoming eligible for sick pay, and abolishing the lower-earnings threshold that makes workers ineligible for sick pay.

The CIPP is supporting the campaign, alongside a coalition of dozens of the UK’s leading trade unions, health charities and rights groups.

Amanda Walters, Campaign Director of the Safe Sick Pay Campaign, said, Whatever we do for work we want to know a sick pay system is there in case we get unwell. As the cost-of-living crisis bites, fixing sick pay will protect workers, their families, and wider public health.

“With a record number of people economically inactive due to illness, the Government must act to fix the system to encourage people to stay in work or return to work after a serious illness. Sick pay needs to be higher, paid from day one and available to all.”

The poll comes as Government data released today shows the number of people economically inactive due to illness stoo

d at 2.5 million, the third consecutive month of increase and a rise of almost 500,000 since April 2019*.

Samantha O’Sullivan MCIPPdip, Policy Lead at the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals, said, “The results of our quick poll survey highlight the demand for better statutory sick pay conditions and we are committed to supporting the Safe Sick Pay Campaign and implementing positive change.

“We believe employees should be eligible for sick pay from day one, allowing people to concentrate on recovery rather than worrying about the financial pressures of not being at work. This would also support those who are looking at a phased return to work after a period of absence, with employees being able to fall back on sick pay to cover their reduced hours.”