Earlier quoted context omitted.
I was surprised to find this downvoted, as it's a harsh fact of life for many people, but not the majority of people. I should have said " For some people , being sick means...". The gist of the argument still applies: It is incorrect to assume everyone can afford to take a month off work when they are sick. I'm in a European juristiction - the UK. We have reasonable labour protections here. But they don't protect ev…
Coming from the UK, it shocked me to learn that you basically get full pay for two years of sickness in The Netherlands. The protection is so much better than the UK's system. It can be abused though: I know of several cases where people are ill for two years, miracuously get better, work a month, then get ill for another two years. Overall it's preferable to the UK situation. Like you though I'm a freelancer; you ea…
I do too, but it is important to recognise that many people earn a lot less when freelancing than a typical salary. There are a lot of very poorly paid "self-employed" in the UK.
I've known freelancers in the UK paid less than £3 an hour, legally because "self-employed". Think things like Uber drivers, data entry on a "per document" basis or article writing "per word".
It is tough for them.
For perspective, that is less than half the legal minimum wage, and they have no sick pay, maternity, pension or other worker protections.
I am genuinely surprised people on HN think zero pay on sick days is unusual. So I'll quote from a BBC article:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51738837
But TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said two million workers do not earn enough to qualify.
Prospect union added that freelancers and self-employed people would continue to face "the dilemma of no pay or going to work when it may be putting their colleagues at risk".
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn asked Mr Johnson if the sick pay announcement would help those currently not eligible for statutory sick pay - such as those on zero hours contracts, or self-employed people.