Lord Hunt of Wirral (Con)

My Lords, Amendment 28 simply asks for a degree of common sense. It would preserve a minimum one-day waiting period for statutory sick pay by lowering the qualifying threshold from four days to two, rather than removing the threshold entirely, as the Government now propose. We have heard a great deal from the Benches opposite about bad employers, and indeed there are some, but the Government must also acknowledge the other side of the coin. Just as some employers abuse the system, so, too, do some employees. To pretend otherwise is disingenuous and undermines the credibility of the entire framework. In fact, before the Government’s recent and embarrassing U-turn on benefits reform, Ministers rightly spoke about the perverse incentives created by aspects of the welfare system. The logic there was sound, and the same logic applies here. If we remove all barriers to claiming statutory sick pay, even for a single day, and do so without checks or balances, we create a system that is not only vulnerable to abuse but risks becoming a disincentive to return to work. Let me be absolutely clear. This is not about denying support to people who are genuinely unwell. It is about preserving the integrity of statutory sick pay so that it remains sustainable, trusted and workable for businesses, particularly small ones. A one-day waiting period is a modest safeguard, not a punishment. It would discourage spurious claims, uphold personal responsibility and give smaller employers a fighting chance in a tight and unpredictable labour market.