| The new Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) rules, including a potential “day one” right and changes to eligibility for low-wage earners, are expected to come into effect in 2025, although the exacrt date has not been confirmed with April and October being the likely dates of implementation. Employees will receive Statutory Sick Pay from the very first day they are off work. No more waiting until day four. No more unpaid short-term absences. The Employment Rights Bill eliminates the three-day waiting period and removes the lower earnings threshold. This is not a cosmetic change. It has real, immediate cost implications for employers – especially those with high levels of short-term absence. Here’s what the change means in practice. First, every employee – no matter how few hours they work – will now qualify for SSP if they earn anything. A one-shift-a-week minimum wage worker earning £98 will still qualify, where previously they didn’t. SSP will be calculated at 80% of their normal weekly earnings, subject to a cap of £118.75. Second, employers offering enhanced sick pay schemes aligned with SSP will need to reassess. If your enhanced sick pay only kicked in after three days, aligning with statutory entitlement, you’ll now need to amend that policy – or risk employees receiving full pay from day one, without any contractual change. Third, the financial impact of short-term absences will increase. The employee who takes every other Monday off is now being paid for it. Here are some tips- 1. Update sickness absence policies now so you’re ready for implementation (we can help you draft bespoke policies). 2. Consider amending enhanced sick pay schemes before the legislation comes into force. 3. Start monitoring absence patterns and ensure your return-to-work processes are robust (our Breathehr HR management system makes this easy to manage). 4. Train managers to handle short-term absence management, capability concerns, and medical referrals with confidence (we can provide training to your management team over how to deal with this). This change also interacts with the wider provisions of the Bill. If you need to amend contract terms to respond – for example, to adjust your enhanced sick pay – you may now be prohibited from dismissing employees who refuse. That would be an automatically unfair dismissal under the new s104I. So timing is everything. There’s still time to prepare. But not much. The earlier you act, the smoother this will go. This, is one of those changes that seems small – but will hit hard especially the Monday mornings absences. If you require more details and would like to discuss further please call us on 07984 568523 or e-mail us at enquiries@lbjconsultants.co.uk, you can also book an appointment here |
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