Daniel Hannan urges end to statutory sick pay, citing rise in absenteeism and long-term sickness

Daniel Hannan, a columnist and former MEP, has called for the abolition of statutory sick pay in the United Kingdom, arguing in a Daily Mail opinion piece that current welfare arrangements and pandemic-era behavioural changes have driven a sustained rise in workplace absenteeism and long-term incapacity claims.

Hannan wrote that Britain has seen a marked increase in short-term sick leave and longer-term exits from the labour market since the COVID-19 lockdowns. He cited figures including an average of 9.4 sick days taken per worker annually, up from 5.9 before the pandemic, and said about 30,000 people a day are being issued sick notes. He also referenced a government forecast that the number of people claiming incapacity and invalidity benefits could rise from 3.3 million to 4.1 million by the end of the parliamentary term.

In the column, Hannan attributed the trends partly to the lockdowns and to changes in working patterns since 2020. He argued that working from home has shifted expectations about attending workplaces and that pandemic messaging encouraging people with mild symptoms to stay away from others has made absence from work more socially acceptable. He wrote that the rise in long-term sickness claims is driven mainly by mental health diagnoses such as anxiety and depression, and expressed scepticism about whether the scale of those conditions alone explains the increase in benefit claims among younger adults.

Hannan also drew on figures from organisations he named, saying the NHS Confederation estimates around 60,000 young people leave university each year and move immediately onto long-term sickness benefits. He cited a study by the Centre for Social Justice suggesting that by 2026 it could be possible to earn about £2,500 a year more on benefits than by working full-time on the minimum wage, and said the fastest rise in sickness benefits is among 25 to 34-year-olds, up 69% in five years.

The columnist contrasted the UK’s average sick days and post-lockdown economic performance with other countries, stating that Americans typically take seven days off, Australians six and New Zealanders five and a half, and noting pre-pandemic growth figures he attributed to the United States, Australia, New Zealand and the UK.

Hannan framed his prescription for the problem in stark terms: remove the statutory right to sick pay and leave it to individual employers and employees to agree terms. He argued that firms are not charities and should not be required to pay workers who do not turn up for work, and suggested that altering incentives would reduce absenteeism in the same way changes to welfare policy did after 2010, when he said the coalition government capped benefits and reduced taxes for low-paid workers with an immediate impact on labour market participation.

The column linked the rise in absence to wider social effects, including children growing up in households where work is not seen as the default and increased school absenteeism. Hannan also cited cultural shifts around the perceived morality of staying home when unwell, saying that pandemic-era guidance normalised not attending work for even minor ailments.

The piece did not include responses from government ministers, employers’ groups, unions or health organisations. Calls to abolish statutory sick pay are likely to prompt debate among ministers, employers and trade unions, who have previously argued that statutory sick pay supports public health by enabling infectious workers to stay away from workplaces and protects low-paid workers from losing income when ill.

Statutory sick pay and the design of welfare benefits intersect with public health, employment policy and social protection. Proposals to change sick pay arrangements would raise questions about access to healthcare, the financial resilience of households when illness strikes, employer capacity to absorb additional risk and the potential effects on workplace transmission of infectious illness.

Hannan’s column joins a broader public discussion about post-pandemic labour market trends, mental health diagnoses on incapacity claims, and how welfare and workplace policies should adapt. The Daily Mail opinion piece sets out one prominent commentator’s view that reversing statutory sick pay is a necessary step to restore stronger labour-market incentives; the idea will require scrutiny from policymakers, independent analysts and public health experts before any legislative or regulatory change could be contemplated.

The Daily Mail published the column on Monday. The article summarised the columnist’s assertions and recommendations but did not provide independent verification of all of the statistics cited. Requests for comment from government departments, employer bodies and unions were not part of Hannan’s column and have not been published alongside it.