How are you feeling?

I had the opportunity to speak to MPs about statutory sick pay yesterday, at a roundtable hosted by Nadia Whittome MP and Mind, at the Houses of Parliament.

I was there to try and remind folk that when thinking about the UK workforce, we cannot forget the 13% of working people who are self employed.

Often in policy or politics, there is talk of supporting ‘everyone in work’, but taking a closer look at the details, everyone only means employees.

Almost 5m of us are not employees, but still very much working, and whilst tax policy is being aligned so that employees and the self employed pay similar amounts - rights, benefits and protections are far from similar.

Individuals must take responsibility for their own wellbeing, of course. Many other countries have voluntary or mandatory contribution schemes which provide SSP for the self employed, so co-funded support is possible.

Some will say.. “you chose to be self employed” but 20-30% of freelancers didn’t choose this way of working. Many are forced into self employment - perhaps as a carer, due to disability, sickness, neurodivergence, or simply a poor jobs market.

And many self employed cannot take time off, and end up working whilst ill, which can lead to exacerbating poor health, and ultimately a further cost to the healthcare system.

Prevention is always better than cure - we know that a lack of respect and support from hirers is a leading factor in freelancers poor mental health. Just look at The Film and TV Charity data, in an industry which is 60% freelance and three times more likely to have mental health problems. Employers need to take some responsibility too.

But when policy intended to “support everyone in work” doesn’t support the millions of people in self employment, we need to demand better.

Everyone deserves the right to good mental health at work.