×
First-time login tip: If you're a REBA Member, you'll need to reset your password the first time you login.

Government consultation: Health is everyone’s business: Proposals to reduce ill health-related job loss

Proposals to make the lowest paid eligible for Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), and to offer small businesses a ‘sick pay rebate’ for effectively managing employees on sick leave and helping them back to work, have been unveiled by the government.

Government papers: Health is everyone’s business: Proposals to reduce ill health-related job loss 2

The Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) and the Department of Health and Social Care have launched a consultation to support its aim of encouraging more people with disabilities and long-term conditions to get back into work.

DWP’s data finds almost half (44%) of people who go off sick for longer than a year never return to the workplace.

The consultation will seek views on the level and duration of SSP – currently those earning below an average of £118 per week are not eligible for SSP – and which sickness benefits risk being a disincentive to people returning to work.

The proposals aim to support and encourage early action by employers to assist those who are disabled or who have a long-term health condition, and to improve access to quality occupational health.

The Health is everyone’s business: proposals to reduce ill health-related job loss consultation closes 7 October 2019.

Related topics