§ Ms. HarmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if the Government will amend the relevant statutory provisions so that women can apply for payment of statutory sick pay over the age of 60 years.
§ Mrs. Gillian ShephardNo. Statutory sick pay (SSP) is not payable to women (or men) employees whose sickness begins after reaching state retirement pension age. Instead such people receive sickness benefit based on the rate of retirement pension which would have been payable if they had retired. We could not expect employers to know about their employees' entitlement to retirement pension. However, an employee whose period of entitlement to SSP begins shortly before minimum pension age can continue to get SSP after that age for as long as that period of entitlement lasts, subject to a maximum of three years.