In a speech on the future of the labour market, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions said that government will at last be shortly consulting on reforming Statutory Sick Pay.
At the Recruitment and Employment Confederation on May 28th, talking about the future of the Labour Market, Amber Rudd said:
“We will shortly consult on reforming Statutory Sick Pay, in order to better support employers to retain staff who experience health problems. The current system is failing to support those who fall ill in work, one of several factors causing older people to choose retirement when they still have a huge amount to offer. One in 4 men, and 1 in 3 women, have not worked for at least 5 years before they reach State Pension age. This is a lose–lose situation; employers lose the skills and experience of those workers, and employees miss those vital extra years of earning and saving which could boost the quality of their retirement.”
Background
The government pledged there would be a consultation in their November 2017 response to the green paper ‘Improving Lives - The Future of Work, Health and Disability’. Government said that they:
“…want to see a reformed SSP system which supports more flexible working … to help support phased returns to work including spacing out working days during a return to work, managing a long-term health condition, or recovering from illness.”
Government also pledged to:
Improve and better publicise existing guidance on SSP eligibility to ensure that employers and employees each understand their rights and responsibilities; and
Consider Matthew Taylor’s recommendations about SSP eligibility and the way entitlement is accrued and about sickness absence management.
We look forward to hearing about these new reforms.