Asked by: Michael Wheeler (Labour - Worsley and Eccles)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to paragraphs 7.2 to 7.4 of her Department’s publication entitled Final stage impact assessment: Improve access to Statutory Sick Pay by removing the Lower Earnings Limit and removing the waiting period, published on 21 October 2024, what estimate she has made of the proportion of sickness absences that last at least four weeks; and what average length of sickness absence was estimated to calculate the annual cost of Statutory Sick Pay for businesses.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There is no administrative data collected or recorded when an employee takes a sickness absence. The best evidence available uses findings from the Employee Survey (Employee research Phase 2: Sickness absence and return to work. Quantitative and qualitative research: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64108286d3bf7f02f6e38078/employee-research-phase-2-sickness-absence-and-return-to-work-quantitative-qualitative.pdf.)
The survey showed that 64% of respondents had no sickness absence. Of those that do have a sickness absence, 13% of those who have a sickness absence reported an absence of more than 3 weeks. The majority of sickness absences were for up to a week (57%) followed by between 1 to 2 weeks (20%), and between 2 to 3 weeks (10%). These figures demonstrate that when workers took sickness absence, it was usually for a short period of time.
Of those who have had a sickness absence, many would receive Occupational Sick Pay. The Employee Survey findings suggest 57% of employees said they would receive OSP, while a further 9% said they would receive some combination of both SSP and OSP. 26% would receive SSP, while the remaining 8% do not know.
The estimated cost to business of SSP reforms is derived from a simulation model that incorporates raw sickness absence data from the DWP Employee Survey 2023 alongside characteristic information from the Family Resources Survey. (Family Resources Survey: financial year 2022 to 2023 - GOV.UK)
Asked by: Michael Wheeler (Labour - Worsley and Eccles)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of young people out of work in Worsley and Eccles constituency.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is published and available at: https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/default.asp
Guidance for users can be found at: https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/home/newuser.asp
Asked by: Michael Wheeler (Labour - Worsley and Eccles)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an estimate of the proportion of employees receiving Statutory Sick Pay whose period of sickness absence reaches (a) one, (b) four, (c) six, (d) eight, (e) sixteen and (f) twenty-eight weeks.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
As Statutory Sick Pay is administered and paid by employers, this information is not held by government. Therefore, we are not able to make an assessment of the proportion of employees who are currently receiving Statutory Sick Pay for specific periods of sickness absence.
Asked by: Michael Wheeler (Labour - Worsley and Eccles)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many workers earn under the lower earnings limit in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department’s latest estimate is that in Quarter 1 of the financial year 2022/23 there were around 1-1.3 million employees in the UK who earned below the LEL. This figure does not include workers who are self-employed.
Of these employees, (a) 86% were in England, (b) 7% were in Scotland, (c) 4% were in Wales and (d) 3% were in Northern Ireland.
These figures are drawn from the published estimates from the Department’s Statutory Sick Pay Regulatory Impact Assessment: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6715f848386bf0964853d848/Impact_assessment_improve_access_statutory_sick_pay_removing_lower_earnings_limit_removing_waiting_period.pdf