Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to support employment businesses in verifying Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) eligibility in circumstances where agency workers may be registered at multiple agencies and claim SSP from each party.

Currently, agency workers can sign up to work for multiple agencies and, once they have done some work under that contract, are eligible to receive Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) from each individual employer during periods of sickness absence. This will not change. Guidance on gov.uk already provides support to employers in verifying an employee’s eligibility to SSP.

The changes being made to SSP through the Employment Rights Act ensure that people who work through employment agencies and employment businesses have comparable rights and protections to their counterparts who are directly employed. The changes to SSP are limited and do not change the existing eligibility criteria beyond removing the waiting period and Lower Earnings Limit.

The Government intends to conduct a post-implementation review (PIR) of the Employment Rights Act within five years of implementation. The impact of the measures to strengthen Statutory Sick Pay will be monitored on employers and employees alike. This can include considering the impact on workers in the agency sector.