Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of provisions in the Employment Rights Bill on (a) statutory sick pay and (b) dismissal procedures on small businesses.

The Government has published a robust set of Impact Assessments on all aspects of the Employment Rights Bill, available here: Employment Rights Bill: impact assessments - GOV.UK. These include assessments on the impacts to small and micro businesses in line with the Better Regulation Framework.

New dismissal procedures and statutory sick pay measures will apply to all businesses regardless of size. Whilst it is recognised that smaller businesses could potentially face disproportionate challenges due to their limited resources, the broader societal benefits of increased job security, productivity and fairness in the labour market justify the policies scope.