BRITAIN’S miserly sick-pay system is punishing low-paid workers, the TUC has warned as a report published today reveals that the nation remains an international laggard on minimum employment standards.

Minimum-wage workers only receive a tenth of their normal earnings if they fall sick for a week, the Resolution Foundation has found.

The number of low-paid workers has fallen below 10 per cent, but the paucity of statutory sick pay is especially damaging for low earners because they are more likely to rely on it, the report says.