This would include reforms of the statutory sick pay (SSP) system and protections for workers whose hours and pay vary unexpectedly.

The ‘Low Pay Report 2023’, published today, also points up the need to see improving work as part of “an overall economic strategy” for the UK.

“The UK has made tremendous progress on eroding low pay in recent years – not progress that we would have expected … in 2010. It is right to celebrate this,” the report says. “But we need to recognise there are still big problems facing low earners. So rather than just celebrating the minimum wage we must learn the lessons it gives us about what is possible, and about the choices we can make as a country about the nature of low-paid work.

“We can through concerted policy action ensure everyone has a minimum level dignity at work,” the report says. “Priority areas for reform relate to security of one type or another, and… the need for a better SSP system, and protections for workers whose hours and pay vary unexpectedly.”

The report goes on to say: “This report is also about how improving work should be seen as part of an overall economic strategy. While it’s important to consider the micro trade-offs involved in each policy area, looking at the big picture and at how our labour standards shape our economy matters too.”

Responding to the report, Neil Carberry, CEO of the Recruitment & Employment Confederation, said: “We would support the government looking at reform of SSP and an immediate change to make it work better is reintroducing government sup-port to all businesses for covering SSP costs. This will help to ensure workers get the support they need when sick, without putting the business in jeopardy because it can’t afford the liability around SSP expenses.”

He went on to say: “The success of the minimum wage has always been in trying to find a level which raises pay without major loss of employment. It is right to continue in this vein, especially in the light of rising inflation. But a wage can never be just an income standard, it must address affordability for firms in different sectors and areas, that is why the role of the Low Pay Commission matters. The LPC can both ensure our experimentation is successful and build business and worker support for the standard and compliance with it.

“A particular challenge for all employers, especially government, is making sure that other policies adapt to higher wage rates, including things such as NHS agency worker rates, social care funding and the measurement of hours for salaried staff who are now increasingly caught by the NLW, which works on an hourly-paid basis.”

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