Fears ‘miserly’ rise in sick pay will not help people with virus
UNIONS HAVE criticised a 50p a week increase in statutory sick pay as “miserly”, warning it will undermine public health efforts as the economy reopens.
SSP increases from £95.85 to £96.35 a week from today, but unions say it is too little to live on.
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “No-one should be plunged into hardship if they need to self-isolate, but more than a year into this pandemic many workers still don’t have access to decent sick pay.
“Today’s miserly increase will do nothing to help people who get Covid. Statutory sick pay is just too little to live on. Ministers have the power to make self-isolation effective overnight and cut transmission immediately.
“They need to raise statutory sick pay to the level of the real Living Wage, and make sure everyone can get it.
“The Government’s failure to act is undermining our public health effort and could lead to a rebound in infections as hospitality and retail outlets reopen.”
The TUC said the UK has one of the lowest rates of sick pay in Europe, while nearly two million workers do not earn enough to qualify for it – most of them women.
Workers receiving statutory maternity, paternity, adoption or additional paternity pay and the self-employed are not eligible to receive SSP, said the TUC.
In response, a government spokesman said: “There is a comprehensive package of financial support in place for workers who need to self-isolate to help stop the spread of coronavirus – including a £500 payment for those on the lowest incomes who have been contacted by NHS Test and Trace.
“Many employers pay more than the minimum level of statutory sick pay and employers with up to 250 staff can be reimbursed the cost of up to a fortnight’s statutory sick pay.”