Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the introduction of the availability of statutory sick pay from the first day of sickness absence on trends in the levels of employment, specifically with regard to a) young people and b) low-paid workers.

Prior to the introduction of the Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) reforms, the Government published an impact assessment which can be found at Impact assessment: Improve access Statutory Sick Pay removing Lower Earnings Limit and waiting period. The Government will also monitor and evaluate the impact of the SSP changes and consider the experiences of employers and employees, as part of the post implementation review.