Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many people are currently receiving statutory sick pay; how many people are eligible to receive only statutory sick pay when unwell; and how many people earn less than the lower earnings threshold, making them ineligible for statutory sick pay.

Statutory Sick Pay is administered and paid by employers, so this information is not held by the Government. Therefore, we are not able to make a robust assessment on the number of people who are currently receiving SSP.

There is information on the type of sick pay usually paid from surveys of employers and employees. The most recent of these are a survey of employers conducted in 2018 (most recent publication in 2021) and a survey of employees conducted in 2014 (published in 2015). Links to both surveys can be found below:

• https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sickness-absence-and-health-in-the-workplace-understanding-employer-behaviour-and-practice

• Health and wellbeing at work: a survey of employees, 2014 (publishing.service.gov.uk)

As set out in the 2019 “Health is Everyone’s Business” consultation, it was estimated that there were around 2 million employees who earned below the Lower Earnings Limit (LEL) and were therefore ineligible for Statutory Sick Pay (SSP).