Member

The noble Baroness, Lady Noakes, asked about the data we had on the duration of sickness absence. The DWP employee survey from 2023 showed that 64% of individuals do not take any sickness absence at all, and, of those that do, 87% have absences of three weeks or under. Therefore, for short-term absences, the removal of waiting days is likely to offset the drop in earnings for the 300,000 who could earn less under the new structure.