Today (Monday 15 July) Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd and Health Secretary Matt Hancock are setting out new measures to transform how employers support and retain disabled staff and those with a health condition.
Under the new measures the lowest paid employees would be eligible for Statutory Sick Pay for the first time, while small businesses may be offered a sick pay rebate to reward those who effectively manage employees on sick leave and help them get back to work.
Each year more than 100,000 people leave their job following a period of sickness absence lasting at least 4 weeks, new figures show.
The longer somebody is on sickness absence the more likely they are to fall out of work, with 44% of people who had been off sick for a year then leaving employment altogether.
