Sick pay rules are changing this week - meaning anyone who takes time off work will get less cash.
The regulations for statutory sick pay (SSP) are returning to a pre-pandemic state. This means employees will be unable to claim sick pay from their first day's absence.
After the pandemic hit in March 2020, the government allowed people to claim SSP from day one if they were self-isolating or sick from Covid-19. But from Thursday, March 24, you'll no longer be entitled to this. If you're sick with covid you'll have to wait until day four for SSP to kick in, reports ChronicleLive.
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The temporary rule change for SSP also applied to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), which you can claim if an illness or disability is affecting your capacity to work. People who are ill or disabled can apply for ESA help of up to £74.70 a week, depending on circumstances.
When covid hit, the government adjusted the benefit, allowing those eligible to make a claim from the first day they were absent from work - instead of the usual eighth day. Starting on Thursday, there will be a seven-day wait again for claiming ESA.
SSP is worth £96.35 a week for those who qualify. It's paid by employers for up to 28 weeks after the first three days of illness and if you're earning at least £120 a week. SSP is the minimum you get under the law if you're unable to work and your employer might pay more from the first day of being ill.
To be eligible for ESA you need to have worked either as a self-employed worker or as an employee, have paid enough National Insurance contributions (usually in the last two to three years), and you can't get ESA if you claim Jobseeker's Allowance or Statutory Sick Pay.
The changes have come about as part of the government's Living with covid strategy that marks the end of two years of lockdowns and testing. Other changes are that there's no longer a legal requirement to self-isolate, even if you test positive for covid, and free Covid tests will no longer be available from April 1. And the £500 grant to help pay for bills if you were self-isolating due to covid ended last month.
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