This small change to sick pay would make a huge difference for people with mental health problems

One small change to the way we support people returning to work after illness could mean savings for employers, savings for government and better outcomes for people, especially people with mental health problems. But will the government do it?

Right now, millions of people are struggling with their mental health, many are reaching breaking point and becoming unable to work.

Alongside challenges in the workplace which include stigma and a lack of support, too often people face barriers to get back into work because our sick pay system is rigid and inadequate. For the government to achieve its ambitions around growth it must think more flexibly about our sick pay regime and through the Employment Rights Bill, it has the perfect opportunity to do this.

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The government has already proposed some positive changes. They are set to remove the waiting period before you can receive statutory sick pay so that it starts from the first day of sickness absence rather than the fourth.

They have also committed to removing the lower earnings limit, which will increase the number of people on the lowest income who are eligible for statutory sick pay. This is particularly important for people with mental health problems, who often find themselves in low-paid and insecure work.

But reforms need to go further and the government must be bolder if it is to better support people with mental health problems to return to work while on statutory sick pay.

It can be daunting to return to work after a period of ill health and many people with mental health problems say they would benefit from a gradual transition, such as working reduced hours or fewer days. The current system and proposals don’t allow this flexibility.

Statutory sick pay payments stop as soon as you return to work. This leaves many with the agonizing decision of either losing what little income they receive through statutory sick pay or going back full-time before they’re well enough to do so. Others feel they have no option but to take early retirement or drop out of employment altogether. This is a massive problem – 300,000 people with mental health problems drop out of work each year, in part due to issues with statutory sick pay. Things cannot carry on this way.

But one small change could be transformative for people with mental health problems. We’re calling for statutory sick pay to be paid on an hourly basis so it can be offered pro-rata alongside wages. This approach would let people receive both statutory sick pay and wages for the hours worked. In practice, this more flexible model would enable someone to work part-time or half days to ease them back into work.

We can already see the benefits of this in action elsewhere. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) found that a more flexible approach had a high success rate for people returning to work after a period of sickness absence (almost 90%). It also showed the total number of sick days being taken by workers came down in a flexible sick pay system.

The cost of implementing this flexible sick pay system is minimal and primarily administrative. But the impact could be huge. Various studies show there are also likely to be financial gains for employers by retaining more employees in the workforce, including a reduction in the costs that come with needing to re-hire staff.

Providing better support for workers when they need some time off would also enable individuals to manage their health more effectively, helping to reduce pressure on already over-stretched health services. This is not a theoretical benefit, it’s a proven model that works.

This is why Mind is urging MPs to support this amendment to the Employment Rights Bill. This small change in the bill would make a huge difference not only to people with mental health problems, but also others with long-term health conditions, while enabling cost savings for government and employers.

The government has the opportunity right now to future-proof our sick pay system, to make it fairer, more flexible, and more adaptable.

Minesh Patel is associate director of policy and influencing at Mind.

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