Include self-employed in statutory sick pay during Coronavirus
699,598 people signed this petition to the UK Parliament after it opened on 6 March 2020; it closed on 6 September 2020. The Government responded on 26 March 2020.
The petition
The petition's creator is not named in the Petitions site's published record. Quoted in full from the UK Parliament petitions site.
Include self-employed in statutory sick pay during Coronavirus
4.8 million people are registered self-employed in the UK. Figures are of 2017 according to the Office of National Statisticics. It would be easy enough to work out what each person is entitled to based on their tax returns.
Include self-employed in statutory sick pay.
The self-employed make up 15% of UK's workforce. Majority are not entitled to any sick pay. I want the Government to include us in the recent changes to statutory sick pay because of the Corona19 virus. Excluding us means the Government are running the risk of said people continuing going to work as just like everyone else we have bills to pay and thus spreading the virus.
The Government's response
The Government published its response on 26 March 2020. Its summary:
It would not be appropriate to require the self-employed to pay themselves statutory sick pay, as they are their own employer. The welfare system provides a safety net to support the self-employed.
The response in full:
Statutory Sick Pay is paid to an employee by an employer. Given self-employed people are their own employer, there is no logic for the government to require the self-employed to pay themselves statutory sick pay.
The Chancellor has outlined an unprecedented package of measures to protect millions of people’s jobs and incomes as part of the national effort in response to coronavirus. This includes strengthening the safety-net for the self-employed who will benefit from a relaxation of the earnings rules for self-employed claimants under universal credit and deferring income tax self-assessment payments due in July 2020.
Depending on their individual circumstances individuals can claim Universal Credit and/or new style Employment and Support Allowance.
They will benefit from changes we are making, such as the £20 increase in the UC standard allowance and the increases to the Local Housing Allowance.
And we will temporarily relax the Minimum Income Floor for all self-employed UC claimants affected by the economic impact of Covid-19 from 6 April, for the duration of the outbreak.
Self-employed people unable to work because they are directly affected by Covid-19 or self-isolating will also be eligible for Contributory Employment and Support Allowance. As announced at Budget, this is now payable from the first day of sickness, rather than the eighth.
All these measures ensure that the self-employed are supported by the benefit system so that they can follow Public Health England guidance on social distancing and self-isolation.
Department for Work and Pensions.
Where the signatures came from
Signatures came from 650 constituencies on the boundaries used until the 2024 general election. The largest number, 2,954, came from Hackney North and Stoke Newington.
697,230 of the signatures were from the UK and 2,368 from elsewhere, by the location signers gave.
| Constituency | Signatures |
|---|---|
| Hackney North and Stoke Newington | 2,954 |
| Hornsey and Wood Green | 2,842 |
| West Ham | 2,721 |
| Bristol West | 2,671 |
| Lewisham, Deptford | 2,667 |
| Hackney South and Shoreditch | 2,609 |
| Tottenham | 2,582 |
| Walthamstow | 2,572 |
| Brighton, Pavilion | 2,298 |
| Bethnal Green and Bow | 2,226 |
| Region | Signatures |
|---|---|
| London | 116,394 |
| South East | 103,623 |
| East of England | 70,256 |
| North West | 67,142 |
| South West | 67,017 |
| Scotland | 57,059 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 45,836 |
| West Midlands | 45,173 |
| East Midlands | 43,148 |
| Wales | 29,466 |
| North East | 19,240 |
| Northern Ireland | 15,412 |
Debate in Parliament
MPs debated the petition in Westminster Hall on .
The Petitions Committee's summary of the debate:
Because it has not been possible to debate this petition to date and the request made by this petition has been considered by the Committee and in the House of Commons in other ways, the Committee has agreed not schedule this petition for debate.
Source and receipt
- https://petition.parliament.uk/archived/petitions/300336.jsonUK Parliament Petitions API · read 2026-10-15 · SHA-256
17ecb319a93546de… - The petition on petition.parliament.uk
The petition's words are its creator's and the response is the Government's; this site quotes both and gives no view on either. Signature counts can still change while a petition is open. To report an error, send a correction request.