Workers to benefit from improvements to sick pay and parental leave

The TUC said 1.2 million workers, mostly low-paid women, are set to get access to statutory sick pay for the first time – while 8.4 million people will benefit from sick pay paid from the first day of illness.

Tens of thousands of workers will get access to day one paternity leave under measures in the Employment Rights Act.

Previously, workers who earned below a threshold of £125 a week were not eligible for statutory sick pay.

The TUC said that before today’s changes, workers had been left with no choice but to go into work when they were ill.

As well as stronger sick pay, fathers and partners will now have a day-one right to paternity leave – and all parents will gain the day-one right to unpaid parental leave.

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The TUC said this first tranche of rights being delivered through the act represented a “landmark day” for workers.

Business Secretary Peter Kyle said: “Day-one rights mean exactly that: rights that are there for you from the moment you start a job, and from the moment you get sick.

“Whether you’re a low-paid employee who’s been forced to work while unwell, or a new parent who wants to be there for their family, these changes are for you. We’re delivering the most significant upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation.”

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “After years of campaigning from unions and workers, the first individual rights from the Employment Rights Act are coming into force – and they will change lives up and down the country.

“Sick pay for all, paid from day one of illness is a huge step forward.

“For too long, low-paid workers – especially women – have missed out on any form of sick pay. Even those who were eligible for statutory sick pay had to wait four days before they could claim it.

“That left many with no choice but to go into work when ill – risking spreading and prolonging their illness. That’s why today’s changes are much needed.”

Abby Jitendra, principal policy adviser at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: “Good jobs give us security and stability. The new rights introduced today extend the security many of us in good jobs enjoy to millions of low-paid workers.

“Workers will no longer pay a penalty for being on a low income and falling sick, with sick pay for all workers from day one. New dads will also have a right to time off to look after their partner and bond with their newborn from their first day at work.

"The changes in the Employment Rights Act bring more workers closer to jobs that they can be proud of, where they truly get out what they put in.”

Petra Wilton, the Chartered Management Institute’s policy director, said: “Managers are not being given the tools they need to fully understand how the rules of the workplace are changing, some of them quite dramatically.

"This creates a real risk for both employers and employees and could lead to preventable workplace tensions.”

Amanda Walters, director of the Safe Sick Pay campaign, said: “Supporting workers properly through illness, with a sick pay system that covers essential bills, results in a healthier workforce in the long run, so we’re very pleased to see these much-needed changes to sick pay come into force.

"Even with the positive changes coming into force this month, UK statutory sick pay remains low by international standards, so we’d encourage the minority of firms that only offer the legal minimum to use this opportunity to raise their support.”