British employees receive just 8.68% of their salary in statutory sick pay when they have to take a week off work due to illness, which equates to £35.96 based on the UK’s average salary of £21,552, according to research by Vouchercloud.
Its How sick leave varies across Europe report shows Switzerland tops the table when it comes to weekly sick pay, with employees able to take home £802.47. Liechtenstein comes second with a weekly sick pay of £757.50 while in third is Norway with £667.32.
In terms of monthly sick pay, calculated on a four-week period, UK employees receive 18.44% of their full salary, equating to £305.71, while Swiss employees could earn £3,209.86, based on the countries’ average annual salaries.
In European countries such as Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Belgium and Norway, employees are paid 100% of salary for at least a month when off sick.
Chris Johnson, head of operations at Vouchercloud, said: “Despite an increasing number of [organisations] operating independent sick pay schemes, it’s disappointing that the UK is sitting right at the bottom of the table for mandatory payments. Despite differences all across Europe in the number of waiting days and whether the government or the employer pays, there’s no excuse for things to be as bad as they are.
“This could leave many hard-working Brits in the lurch should they fall ill; even for a week or two. Sometimes missing just a couple of days can be the difference between a month in the black and a month in the red.”