Is it legal?

general_x

I recently found out that my new job doesn't pay us for sick days!! I honestly thought this practise was relegated to 17th century Chinese Coal Mines, but I'm obviously wrong! Can someone just tell me if there is any law (in any form) against this. It's a decent job with good benefits which has really got me thinking about staying. Thanks

Gilgamesh

are you full time or contractor?
when I was a contractor we had the same, no pay for sickdays.
don't really think there is anything you can do.
I got myself health insurance from BUPA at the time which covered me for those days

therecklessone

http://www.oasis.gov.ie/employment/holidays_and_leave/sick_leave.html?search=sick+days

In general there is no existing employment law in Ireland on the issue of sick pay or sick leave. Consequently, it is at the discretion of the employer to decide his/her own policy on sick pay and sick leave, subject to the employee’s contract or terms of employment. Under Section 3 of the Terms of Employment Act 1994 and 2001 an employer is obliged to provide an employee with a written statement of terms of employment within two months of the commencement of employment. One of the terms referred to in this Act on which the employer must provide information is the terms or conditions relating to incapacity for work due to sickness or injury.

skywalker_208

You will find that alot of companies dont pay sick days.. particularly hotels and the hospitality area in general...

AARRRGH

skywalker_208 wrote:

You will find that alot of companies dont pay sick days.. particularly hotels and the hospitality area in general...

I guess their thinking is, "If we pay them crap wages they'll hate their job and take lots of sick days. So lets just not pay them for sick days..."

whippet

If sick days were paid for people would treat them like additional holiday entiltlements.

If you are out sick you can get some thing from the Social Welfare.

In my company it is clear in everyone's contract that after your second sickday the company may withhold pay. As far as I am aware this was only used in a handful of cases where people were taking advantage of a slight sniffle on monday mornings.

Personally I have take three sick days off in 5 years.

Other people working on my team would probably average 2 days a year.

rubadub

If you are a woman with a male boss you get all the sickdays you want in my place no questions asked, even when it is obvious they were on the piss, e.g. talking all week about a wild hen party they are off to at the weekend, back sunday and dont turn up monday. "womens problems" puts the fear of god into some gobshlte males

I was driven home by a colleague from work on a thursday afternoon white as a ghost, sweating and shivering with tonsilitis, came back monday and the bastards were asking for a sick note. Drives me mental.

vector

rubadub wrote:

...I was driven home by a colleague from work on a thursday afternoon white as a ghost, sweating and shivering with tonsilitis, came back monday and the bastards were asking for a sick note. Drives me mental.

Write the sick note yourself, many employers don't want docotrs certs, they just want something to put in a file. Be warned the file can be used as evidence against you at a later stage if your absenteeism gets out of hand and they want to let you go.

Beruthiel

here at my job, if you get paid a salary you get sick pay.
on the factory floor they get paid by the hour, including o/t (if they do it) and they get no sick pay.

TempestSabre

I'd say the majoirty of places don't pay sick leave. Its more of a perk these days. If you are worried about, you can buy your own insurance to protect against loss of earning if sick. Obviously contractors don't get anything.

Most places don't pay maternity leave either. Same sort of issue.