Campaign win! Sick Pay changes to benefit 8 million people
What's happening
The Safe Sick Pay campaign is celebrating two welcome sick pay changes, as the employment rights bill reaches Royal Assent.
The Bill will make around one million more people eligible for sick pay from the first day they become ill.
Today we're sharing a timeline of how we got here, and celebrating the many organisations and individuals that have made this possible.
We're still demanding a change to the rate sick pay is paid at - but this week's news represents a big improvement to sick pay, particularly for the very lowest earners.
Read about our campaign journey below.
“I had a long battle with cancer, and just two weeks enhanced sick pay over my months of treatment, before I went down to just £3 an hour.
"After campaigning with Young Lives vs Cancer and the Safe Sick Pay campaign, I'm so pleased we made a difference and helped secure sick pay improvements for millions of people, even if more needs to be done.”
Danny Berry, Chelmsford
Timeline of the Safe Sick Pay campaign
2021
The Centre for Progressive Change (CPC) listens to hundreds of mainly low paid workers working with trade union, faith and community partners to identify the major challenges facing low income families.
With organisations like mental health charity Mind, trade unions Equity, Polish Migrants Organise for Change, English for Action and the Latin American Chaplaincy we listen to around 500 low income workers. Sick pay is identified a a top campaigning priority.
2022
"I was forced to work through illness - and never got the sick pay I was owed” Sofia Torres, a worker and CPC board member, is one of a group of workers who launch the Safe Sick Pay campaign in the Sunday Mirror.
The campaign is backed by the TUC, Unison and Usdaw, as well as major charities such as Scope, Mind, Child Poverty Action Group and Disability Rights UK.
2023
The campaign steps up a gear with cross party political backing in The Times from three former ministers Sir Robert Buckland, Jonathan Gullis and Priti Patel
Sky news revealed the ongoing impact on workers of inadequate sick pay during illness, with this exclusive investigation by Amanda Akass featuring workers forced to rely on emergency food aid
The Safe Sick Pay campaign teams up with Lega & General Investment Management, WPI Economics and others to launch an economic analysis of the benefits of improved sick pay in Parliament.
2023
The Deputy leader of the Labour Party, Angela Rayner, confirms at TUC conference that sick pay would be at the heart of the party’s employment rights offer at the next election.
The campaign secures a commitment from Sir Stephen Timms for the Work & Pensions Select Committee to investigate the issue.
The campaign partners with Legal & General Investment Management to run a sick pay symposium for interested employers.
2024 - election mode
Media interest rises as the Work & Pensions Select Committee brands the UK sick pay system 'not for for its primary purpose' to help workers recover safely from illness.
The Safe Sick Pay campaign teams up with cancer charities including Antony Nolan, Leukaemia Care, Cancer 52 and Macmillan to call for action to protect cancer patients.
A snap election is called, and we team up with the Trades Union Congress to release data on sick pay gaps by local authority.
We scaled up rapidly, to reach 74 constituencies during the election, growing the campaign to over 100 MP backers and sick pay is included in the manifestos of Labour, Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru and the Greens.
2024 - employment bill
A new Labour Government is elected, and one of the first things they announce is an employment bill that will include sick pay changes.
The Safe Sick Pay coalition has now grown to 150 strong, we work with Citizens Advice, Organise, the Royal Society of Public Health, the Work Foundation and many others to press for further amendments to improve the rate sick pay is paid at.
News on sick pay
what's next
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