Member

Let me make it clear that mandating improvements does not guarantee provision. In competitive markets, businesses will often choose to enhance their benefits to attract and retain talent, but this happens only when they have the financial headroom to do so. When taxes are lower and regulatory burdens are predictable, businesses are incentivised to invest in occupational health and better sick pay, but the current statutory sick pay proposals, on top of national insurance increases and other cost pressures, leave small and medium-sized businesses and micro-businesses stuck at the margins, without the means or the flexibility to compete on workforce support. All this, I must add, is being pushed forward with an absence of clarity.