Clean for Good on the safe sick pay campaign trail organised by The Centre for Progressive Change
The government minimum wage has just increased to £12.71 per hour (for those over 21). One of Labours flagship election promises – the Employment Rights Act (giving more powers to workers) is coming into force in April 2026. Good news?
‘More cost, more admin, more complication, more pain’. This is the cry of businesses across the land, increase that by a factor of 10 if you find yourself in a small business or low margin industry like commercial cleaning. Petitions, lobbying and public outcry have been the order of the day. It certainly doesn’t sound like good news, particularly on my Linkedin feed!
Beneath the noise, there is a different story to tell. Take a look here at the new powers one by one. They cover statutory sick pay, paternity leave, banning zero-hour contracts & more.
At the same time begin to imagine you are one of those workers earning £12.71 per hour*, £24,784 per year, and you live in London, and you have a family, and you pay rent etc etc. Well……. they begin to read like good news, or maybe more accurately a step in the right direction.
At a surface level, and with a ‘profit is king’ lens the employment rights act is indeed painful. Beneath this veneer, however, of so called ‘commercial sense’, lies the prevailing, and powerful force of commodification. And It’s a tragedy. It pushes and squeezes those at the bottom, in our world that is the cleaner themselves.
The Employment Rights Act isn’t about goods, or products or services. It’s about people; mums, dads, sisters, & brothers and how they can be empowered n the workplace.
One of the big improvements to workers, embedded within the act will be the changes to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP). From April 2026 SSP will be paid from day 1, not day 4. Righting a wrong that will positively impact millions of workers across the UK.
At Clean for Good we have seen the impact of our own sick pay policy (which goes well beyond SSP already) on our staff. You can read about Rose, John and Andressa’s experience of it here in the Daily Mirror article. Rose said this “When I was recovering and it was pay day, I woke up early to check my bank account – and the money was there! I was shouting ‘they paid me, they paid me.”
So yes it is good for workers, but we also believe and see it is good for our clients. Staff that feel valued, trusted and empowered are much more motivated in their work. It’s a win-win!
