Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate her Department has made of the number of employees who do not qualify for statutory sick pay as a result of their pay being below the lower earnings limit.
To be eligible for SSP, earnings over the 8 week qualifying period must be at or above the National Insurance Lower Earnings Limit (LEL), currently £120 per week. The consultation “Health is Everyone’s Business” stated that widening eligibility for SSP would extend SSP protection to an estimated 2 million more employees.