1.3 low paid workers (earning less than £123 per week) to be entitled to 80% sick pay from day 1!!

[ByQuaintAzureWasp]

The government has told us they want to promote growth (increase GDP) ... great. They've hammered small businesses with NI threshold reduction and Increasing employers NI %. Yesterday they announce they are going to guarantee that 1.3 million workers, earnings £123 or less per week will get sick pay from the first day of absence and this will be paid at 80% of normal pay.

How is this contributing to growing the economy and helping small and medium sized businesses?

Am I being unreasonable in thinking it's lunacy?

Good employee wellbeing increases employee morale and loyalty. Claims that giving people sick pay will suddenly make them all throw sickies is largely unfounded. Added to which, all good employers should have adequate performance monitoring procedures in place to address employees who they suspect of throwing sickies, and to terminate their employment either on the basis of misconduct for doing so, or for lack of capability to perform their role if the sickness is persistent and ongoing. If employers don’t have these procedures in place and all their staff just apparently take advantage of them and call in sick all the time with no consequences, that’s a weak employer - and eradicating weak employers and employment practices does lead to growth.

So, 'growth', endless growth, always and forever, stretching on into infinity?

Must everything always be about 'growth'? Can we actually carry on 'growing', forever? What would that actually look like? Interesting thought experiment, no?

The UK almost certainly will never 'go bankrupt' and cetainly not because of giving a small number of people an even smaller amount of money. Fiat currency and all that. Google can help.

Here's the thing OP, the people in receipt of that money will probably spend it, on you know, feeding their family, clothing their family, that kind of thing, so that money will go straight back into the economy 👌👌

It’s going to ensure that those on very low incomes have enough money when they are ill to buy food. That’ll help the food industry. It’ll mean they are less likely to suffer from illness due to poor diet. That’ll help the NHS. It’ll give right wing newspapers something to write about for their right wing readers, increasing the newspaper revenues.
It’ll help in myriad ways 🙄

Well, they're going to be able to pay their rent and electricity and even some food, rather than having to rely upon foodbanks - so that's an improvement that could result in some growth.

Well, true. But don't you think it's slightly bizarre that up until the last week, ALL the Govt has talked about is growth, yet their policies seem to discourage it?
OP, I get it. Unless you have run a small business, you have no idea how things like this can hit you - I note there is the usual response along the lines of 'unless you can shoulder every single thing thrown at you, you don't deserve to run a business' and I wonder what advantage the poster thinks closing every small business that doesn't deserve to exist will bring to its employees and the UK as a whole?

They've tried that already .... they are leaving in their droves, the policy has back-fired.
I'm not right wing, just realistic. However, another pister had z good point that it wing impact businesses too much as it will be really spread ... asx
not a lot of businesses have mainly workers on 10 hour contracts, which I hadn't really grasped. Having said that if I'm a very small business, it could be massive.

I always think it’s quite counterintuitive to drag yourself in when sick as you spread it around and make everyone else ill too.

I do also think this is about shifting bills to an employer rather than universal credit. I’m assuming lots of low paid workers get top ups.

How would that help if you went off sick/broke a leg? Currently people who that happens to inc people working 2 jobs/full time would get peanuts and not be able to eat/pay bills.

It'll help people on low wages eat.

Good point.

It's amazing how much some people on higher wages detest those on minimum wage and treat them like they don't deserve any help or any perks. Almost as if they are second class citizens. Or slaves.

Just look at the amount of threads every year from some higher earners complaining that the minimum wage has gone up.

It's a fucking joke. I'm glad the government are paying sick pay from day one for low earners.

I guarantee people will take the piss.

If they're paid less than £123 a week then it's not going to cost much to pay the sick pay is it! Plus most workers earning that little are not working every day so the chances of their period of sickness covering many working days is lower.

Typical attitude of the right, completely unable to think. Seriously OP, try and take just 5 minutes to think about the negatives, to both society and businesses, of a system that forces workers to continue working when ill.

Sounds very sensible to cover sick pay for the most financially vulnerable people who earn a pittance yet undertake critical jobs. It’s 80% cover, not 100% anyway

On one hand it is lunacy but on the other hand - if people are sick they are sick. They should have policies that mandate approved sick noted for new starters.

If the government keeps topping up meagre wages with universal credit is that productive towards growth of the county's economy?
Amazon job on a shitty Amazon warehouse wage being topped up by other taxpayers while they make their billions.
Fuck them and all the big price gouging big corporation billionaires. That's parasitism, not growth. It's time to start making the bastards pay.

SOME people may take the piss. SOME will finally be able to actually be unwell AND eat! Oh the horror!

I suppose it will reduce the benefit bill a little as a lot of these low paid workers will be on UC so the three days sick pay will reduce their entitlement that month. If they do this though it should be for everyone.

I'm proud to say I'm married to someone who helped draft this legislation.

Wow. I'm that low paid worker and I've never got sick pay. So, I go in sick. Thanks.

Good luck getting service in the school holidays. In hospitality (where this kind of couple of shifts a week pattern is common) it would be more cost effective to call in sick than arrange childcare.

Personally I'd prefer to see it paid to a higher rate but not until day three. That way if you have a longer term, certifiable illness you get support. But this way it encourages the Monday skivers.

But that’s a performance management issue. If an employer repeatedly finds that staff are calling in sick during school holidays then they need to enact their performance management procedure and manage those staff out for being unable to fulfil the terms of their contract. If they don’t do that, then they also can’t complain that their staff are calling in sick and they’ve no way of resolving the problem.

People on that low an income will have their universal credit to support them. It’s not like OP is expecting them to starve if they get ill.

It is right for people to be paid sick pay, depending on the circumstances, but it is not fair to expect small businesses to cover the cost.

Too many people take sick leave for next to nothing or they use the excuse that they’re sick when really they need to sort childcare or wait for a delivery.