Sick note Britain will get worse under workers' rights reforms, Lords warn

Telegraph

14-05-2025

Sick note Britain will get worse under Labour's workers' rights reforms as those who 'would prefer a day off' can more easily stay at home, Lords have warned.
Lord Hunt of Wirral said that the Employment Rights Bill, which promises to make more staff eligible for statutory sick pay (SSP), could increase absenteeism by encouraging more workers to call in sick 'when it may not be strictly necessary'.
'There may be little incentive to attend work when they feel under the weather or even when they simply feel they would prefer a day off,' he said, warning that hospitality businesses that rely on younger, part-time workers could be particularly hard hit.
'The absence of financial pressure could lead to increased absenteeism in the short-term, which could lead to operational challenges.'
Under the Government's plans, which are being overseen by Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, workers will be able to claim sick pay from the first day of their illness, instead of the fourth. A threshold to earn at least £123 a week to qualify for sick pay will also be abolished.
Recruiters have already warned that staff could risk losing their jobs under the overhaul, amid concerns that the extra costs could overwhelm small businesses.
During a debate on the Bill in the Lords on Tuesday, Baroness Cash also raised concerns about the changes, noting that mental health now accounts for half of all new sickness claims.
'What qualifies? A diagnosis of stress, low mood, burnout – all of these are now signed off on GP sick notes. There's a confusion between transient life difficulty and clinical disorder,' she argued.
'In Sweden they did what this government is proposing to do and it led to rocketing absence levels.'
A record 185.6m working days were lost to sickness or injury in Britain in 2022, the most recent year the Office for National Statistics has published data for.
Peers have been raising concerns about various parts of the reforms in recent weeks, as the House of Lords continues to examine individual parts of the Bill.
The legislation will greatly strengthen the power of workers and trade unions. As well as offering broader eligibility for sick pay, the Bill also includes a greater entitlement to flexible work, a crackdown on zero-hour contracts and full employment rights from the first day in a job.
The Bill is currently making its way through Parliament and will continue to face scrutiny in the Lords, where more amendments can be made.
Baroness Meyer has previously warned that the Bill would put the country at risk of 'being held to ransom' by unions and could take Britain back to the 'economic chaos of the 1970s'.
Last week Conservative peer Lord Sharpe of Epsom said that the Bill could 'unintentionally create significant risks to national security' if Britain's security services were given greater powers to request flexible working.
Bosses have been spooked by the package of changes, with data this week showing that business confidence had hit a record low. A quarter of employers plan to make redundancies in the next quarter, the survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) found, as fears mount over the impact of the additional red tape.