Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the Government response to the consultation entitled Health is everyone’s business, published on 4 October 2021, whether he plans to incorporate proposals within that consultation on tackling ill health-related job losses into the Employment Rights Bill.

This Government is committed to delivering the Plan to Make Work Pay in full and updating Britain's employment protections, so they are fit for our modern economy and the future of work. As set out in the Plan to Make to Work Pay we are committed to strengthen Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), so it provides a safety net for those who need it most. We will remove the Lower Earnings Limit to make it available to all workers and remove the waiting period so that SSP is paid from the first day of sickness absence. Ministers are identifying the most appropriate delivery mechanisms for the commitments in the Plan, including an Employment Rights Bill that will be introduced to Parliament within 100 days of taking office.