UK has one of the 'least generous’ sick pay system in the industrialised world
Over one third of UK cleaners said they have attended work while sick, a damning investigation into working conditions in the cleaning industry has found.
Only one in five cleaners who were surveyed said they were were allowed to take sick days, suggesting the vast majority of UK cleaners are being forced to go to work while unwell.
The investigation by the research organisations Centre for Progressive Change and Autonomy UK shines a light on the troubling health implications for low-income workers in the cleaning industry, with many stories of cleaners forced by their employer to choose between working ill or going unpaid.
As one cleaner reported: “They told us that if we got ill they weren’t going to pay us, or they were going to sack us.”
A board member of the Centre for Progressive Change and a former cleaner, Sofia Torres said: “I used to clean the Shard, one of the tallest office blocks in London. I was one of the unseen army of cleaners, keeping the building clean and tidy for the thousands of workers.
“When I suffered a back injury and had to take time off sick I got no sick pay from my employer, so I had to return to work before I was ready.”
The year-long investigation of over 350 cleaners also revealed that bullying, harassment and discrimination were also all common experiences for the workers, alongside low wages and insecure contracts.
The findings comes within the context of the UK having one of the lowest rates of statutory sick pay in Europe, currently at £109.40 flat-rate payment per week.
Will Strong, Director of Research at Autonomy said the UK has one of the least generous sick pay systems in the industrialised world, which leaves millions of workers missing out on sick pay across the country.
The Independent Workers Union of Great Britain commented that the research was “sad by unsurprising” and highlighted the need to end outsourced labour.
The union wrote: “Sad but unsurprising – as many cleaners are on outsourced contacts, they are treated as second class citizens, without proper sick pay or substantial wages that allow them to take time of work.
“It’s time to end outsourcing practices and bring key workers like cleaners in house.”
In 2019 the Tory Government consulted on sick pay reforms, however have yet to implement any sick pay reforms.
In its New Deal for Working People, the Labour Party has backed day one sick pay and removed the lower earnings limit, however has not yet clarified if it will back a higher weekly sick pay amount.
Amanda Walters, Director of the Safe Sick Pay Campaign, said: “The cleaning industry is in need of a clean up, despite their back breaking work, the vast majority of cleaners across the country aren’t entitled to basic rights at work such as sick pay.
“When cleaners go back to work sick, they end up making more people ill. This hurts employers and our wider economy.”
Hannah Davenport is news reporter at Left Foot Forward, focusing on trade unions and environmental issues
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