Gender pay gap report and Britain’s sick note culture

In this episode of our Employment Law Pod, Andy Whiteaker and Claire Taylor-Evans, discuss two topics that have been at the forefront of the news in the last few weeks, gender pay gap reports, and Rishi Sunak’s bid to end Britain’s “sick note culture”.

Claire, Partner in our Employment team, is passionate about working to close gender pay gaps within the workplace. Since 2017, all employers in the UK, who have over 250 employees, are required to publish a gender pay gap report. In this episode, Claire leads the conversation on the causes of the gender pay gap and matters an employer needs to consider.

In the second half, following on the latest claims by Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, Andy brings to the conversation the topic of sick-note culture and what this means for those of working age.

The latest statement by the PM states the “sick-note culture” has resulted in a significant rise in people being unnecessarily signed off work. In the statement, he mentions good work can improve physical and mental health and to do that, moving sick-notes away from GPs to a 3rd party may help.