More than a third of surveyed UK cleaners have worked while ill

Elias Alvarenga: ‘The whole city of London has a sick pay problem.’ Photograph: Sean Smith/The Guardian

Low-paid UK cleaners doing “backbreaking” jobs are dragging themselves to work while ill because many are unable to claim sick pay, research has found.

A year-long investigation into conditions in the sector found that more than a third of the 500 cleaners consulted had worked while unwell.