No-one wants to get sick, but when we do, we want to know that we can take the time to get better, and still pay the bills to look after ourselves and our families. We all deserve to know our workplaces are safe, and we won’t catch illnesses from colleagues, and take them home to our loved ones.

Unfortunately the UK has the worst statutory sick pay scheme in the developed world.

A third of us only get Statutory Sick Pay, which is so low it is nowhere near enough to pay the bills. And to get any sick pay in the first place, we need to lose three days’ pay first.

1.3 million employees - mainly people working multiple jobs like cleaners, carers or parents juggling childcare with work - slip through the cracks and get no sick pay at all.

Being sick enough to need to be off work is never easy – but it’s even worse when you have to worry about putting food on the table or heating your home.

It means we either go into work sick and get more unwell, or we end up off at home worrying about money and being unable to pay the bills.

This puts our and other people’s health and wellbeing at risk, and can cause more disruption to our lives and our work.

No-one should be punished for getting ill. In Britain, we can lead the world in having safe workplaces that help workers recover from sickness quickly. By making sick pay safe, we can create better workplaces that ensure that hardworking people can meet living costs if they need time off.

We want a sick pay system that is good for growth, good for public health and good for working families. That's why we are calling on the government to:

• Strengthen Statutory Sick Pay by increasing the basic rate it is paid at

   

• Remove the lower earnings limit for Statutory Sick Pay to make it available to all workers  

   

• Remove the waiting period for Statutory Sick Pay so that it is paid from the first day of sickness