Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the number of people unable to claim statutory sick pay from their employer because their earnings are below the lower earnings level; of these, what proportion are (1) male and (2) female; and what plans, if any, they have to remove the lower earnings limit.

As set out in the 2019 “Health is Everyone’s Business” consultation, it is estimated that there are around 2 million employees who earn below the Lower Earnings Limit (LEL) and are therefore ineligible for Statutory Sick Pay (SSP). Of those, approximately 30% are male and 70% are female.

SSP reform, including extending SSP eligibility to those earning below the LEL, was part of the “Health is Everyone’s Business” consultation in 2019. In the response to the consultation published in 2021, Government stated the pandemic was not the right time to introduce changes to the rate of SSP or its eligibility criteria as this would have placed an immediate and direct cost on employers at a time where many were struggling.

As we learn to live with Covid-19, the Government is continuing to take a broader look at the role of SSP and is keeping the system under review.