UP TO 9.6 million workers will benefit from changes to sick pay rules, unions said as they came into force today.

About 8.4m became eligible for statutory sick pay from day one of falling ill, rather than day four, according to the TUC.

Another 1.2m workers also became entitled to the minimum amount employers must pay after a £125-a-week threshold was scrapped.

The TUC estimates more than 830,000 women, who are overrepresented in lower-paid jobs and part-time work, will benefit from Statutory Sick Pay for the first time.

The move will also particularly help disabled employees and younger and older workers.

Independent analysis undertaken for the TUC has shown that as a result the benefits of day one sick pay for the economy will be worth five times the costs.

The changes are part of the first tranche of rights being provided through the Employment Rights Act. It is also introducing new protections regarding sexual harassment, parental leave and trade union recognition.

The improved worker rights will remove the pressure on lower-income households, who have had to choose between potentially spreading and prolonging their illness or losing much-needed pay, the TUC said.

The government’s ban on so-called “exploitative” zero-hours contracts is expected next year.

TUC analysis published last month over half (54 per cent) of workers on these contracts are women.  

It warns that Reform UK wants to turn the clock back for women at work by ripping the Employment Rights Act and the Renters’ Rights Act, while separately vowing to legalise discrimination by overturning the Equality Act.