Did you know that over one million workers in the UK are ineligible for sick pay?
Since this article was published, the reforms it describes have largely been enacted. Under the Employment Rights Act 2025, from 6 April 2026 the Lower Earnings Limit was removed from SSP and sick pay is now payable from the first day of sickness. The figures and campaign positions below reflect the situation at the original time of writing.
A recent report by the Work Foundation has found that 3.5% of the UK's workforce did not qualify for Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) because they did not meet the minimum earnings threshold of £123 per week that applied at the time — the Lower Earnings Limit, which was removed from SSP on 6 April 2026.
Calls for urgent reforms to SSP eligibility criteria
At the time, groups were calling for urgent reforms to the UK's SSP policy that would remove the minimum earnings threshold and give low-income earners more security when absent from work due to illness — reforms that were enacted on 6 April 2026.
The Work Foundation’s report found that the current policies disproportionately affected certain people already experiencing disadvantages in the workforce; these included women, young people and those living with disabilities.
How many employers are offering sick pay above the SSP rate?
While companies are free to go above and beyond the statutory minimums set by the government, the basic eligibility criteria do little to address the real needs of low-income earning employees. As it stands, only 53% of employers pay above the minimum required sick pay. As a result, more people are choosing to continue their work week when sick, also known as ‘presenteeism’, impacting long-term health and productivity.
SSP is not keeping up with the times
At the time of writing, the rate of statutory sick pay was £116.75, only around 17% of average weekly earnings for UK workers. (As of 6 April 2026 it is £123.25 per week, or 80% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower.) When the scheme was established in the early 1980s, the sick pay rate was the equivalent of 35% of weekly earnings.
Recommendations to strengthen SSP policy
The Work Foundation called on the UK Government to create better policy through a comprehensive employment reform bill within its first 100 days in office. Many of these measures were later brought in through the Employment Rights Act 2025. They also hope to establish a commission and review to establish fairer leave conditions that move with the future of the UK’s workforce.
