Almost two years after the Covid-19 pandemic began, the UK still has one of the lowest rates of sick pay in Europe. Employees and agency workers are entitled to £96.35 a week in statutory sick pay (SSP) – equivalent to around 20 per cent of the average wage – for up to 28 weeks.
Research from vouchercloud has revealed the amount of mandatory sick pay available to workers for both a week and a month off sick across Europe, with Switzerland and Liechtenstein out in front and Ireland, Finland and the United Kingdom lagging way behind.
With the average payout for a week of sick leave across Europe (including Australia) sitting at £245, the UK’s £35.96 payout is one of the lowest by a long way – and with a slightly healthier £305.71 monthly payment still far below the £1,034 average, a strong average salary across the UK means nothing in terms of sick pay.
In fact, the average worker across Europe receives 65% of their salary as pay during a week of sick leave – in the UK, we are paid less than 9% of our typical week’s salary.
That increases to a slightly healthier 18% when you look at a month of sick leave, but the number is still far below the European average (70% of your typical wage across a month of sick leave).
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