Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of expanding Statutory Sick Pay on recruitment agencies; and if he will consider taking steps to (a) enable agencies to recover SSP costs from hirers where workers fall ill during assignments, (b) clarify how Day 1 entitlement applies to agency workers and (c) strengthen HMRC’s role in preventing multiple SSP claims across different agencies.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Strengthening Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is part of the Government’s Plan to Make Work Pay. The Government conducted a Regulatory Impact Assessment Here on the impact of the SSP measures in the Employment Rights Bill.

Whilst this is not a specific assessment on the impact on recruitment agencies, the Government believes that the SSP measures strike the right balance between providing financial security to employees and limiting additional costs to employers, including agencies. The Bill ensures that people who work through employment agencies and employment businesses have comparable rights and protections to their counterparts who are directly employed.

a) We do not intend to make changes to allow agencies to recover SSP costs from end hirers during gaps in assignment. The government believes that employers, including those in the recruitment sector, are best placed to manage sickness absences and ensuring employees receive appropriate support. The removal of the waiting period means all eligible employees will be entitled to SSP from Day 1 of their sickness absence. This includes eligible agency workers. This enables employees to take the time off work they need to recover when sick.

b) Strengthening HMRC’s role in preventing multiple SSP claims from one employee would require mandatory reporting from businesses. This would be administratively burdensome, particularly for SMEs.