Am I entitled to sick pay? work screwed up

rannerap

Just before Christmas I had to get all my wisdom teeth out. I requested the wednesday to wednesday off, and my boss said I could use my holidays to cover it so I would get paid. That was fine and I went in for surgery. I gave my boss the note from the dentist stating that I needed the week off to recover etc when I got back. Now today I have been informed that I shouldnt have been paid holiday pay for it, as I gave in the sick note. And they are going to take the 6 days I took off out of my wages. What can I do about this? I really cant afford to lose 6 days wages out of my pay :mad:. My boss said I should be entitles to state sick pay if I hand in my cert?

runawaybishop

Sarannewrap wrote: »

Just before Christmas I had to get all my wisdom teeth out. I requested the wednesday to wednesday off, and my boss said I could use my holidays to cover it so I would get paid. That was fine and I went in for surgery. I gave my boss the note from the dentist stating that I needed the week off to recover etc when I got back. Now today I have been informed that I shouldnt have been paid holiday pay for it, as I gave in the sick note. And they are going to take the 6 days I took off out of my wages. What can I do about this? I really cant afford to lose 6 days wages out of my pay :mad:. My boss said I should be entitles to state sick pay if I hand in my cert?

You weren't on holidays though, you were sick. You should get sick pay for since you have a note and were off for 3+ days.

rannerap

Im only on a 6 month contract and dont get sick pay through work. I was told if I took the 6 days off I just wouldnt be paid for them, so my boss told me to use up my holiday days so I would get paid as I was entitles to 7 days paid off from work.

runawaybishop

Why did you hand in the sick note so?

runawaybishop

i am incorrect about the 3+days above, it was changed to 6 days form Jan 2014. Looks like you aren't entitled to anything, unless it is specified in your contract.

bbam

When employers/employees agree to the whole lie about taking holidays rather than sick leave it's a bad sign.

You would have been entitled to illness benifet after three days off.

But I don't see any going back on the whole thing now. Seems like your going to be down the pay.

On the bright side, you've learned a lesson and you should get the holidays back as if you are certified sick while out on AL, the holidays are returned.

Sligo1

I think you cannot take annual leave instead of sick leave. Do your work pay for any days you are off sick? My work pay for the first 3 days... And then social welfare pay for anything after 3 consecutive days. (SW I think have changed their required days lately so check it out)... But I'm nearly sure you will get sick leave benefit for a couple days, you will just need to fill in the social welfare form and get it signed by your doctor/dentist.

Sligo1

bbam wrote: »

When employers/employees agree to the whole lie about taking holidays rather than sick leave it's a bad sign.

You would have been entitled to illness benifet after three days off.

But I don't see any going back on the whole thing now. Seems like your going to be down the pay.

On the bright side, you've learned a lesson and you should get the holidays back as if you are certified sick while out on AL, the holidays are returned.

I think you can always go back on it tho. If you are down to take annual leave and you get sick during this leave and provide a doctors certificate. Your employer must give you back the days annual leave you have been certified sick for and you can take this Paid AL again at some stage.

runawaybishop

Budget 2014

From 6 January 2014 no Illness Benefit payment will be made for the first 6 days of illness (up from 3 days). This means that a person will not be entitled to Illness Benefit for the first 6 days of their claim

rannerap

I gave in the note to show work I wasnt lying about why I needed the time off. It was December and they have a no time off in December rule. I had been waiting on the appointment for about a year so I had to take it. They were very reluctant about giving it to me. I will probably get the annual leave carried over to this year, but its not really much good to me when I am down six days pay and my contract ends in a month and a half and I want them to keep me on.

Sligo1

runawaybishop wrote: »

Budget 2014

From 6 January 2014 no Illness Benefit payment will be made for the first 6 days of illness (up from 3 days). This means that a person will not be entitled to Illness Benefit for the first 6 days of their claim

Yea I thought they had increased the days alright... Bummer...

rannerap

runawaybishop wrote: »

Budget 2014

From 6 January 2014 no Illness Benefit payment will be made for the first 6 days of illness (up from 3 days). This means that a person will not be entitled to Illness Benefit for the first 6 days of their claim

This happened in Dec 2013 so would it still count?

runawaybishop

Sarannewrap wrote: »

I gave in the note to show work I wasnt lying about why I needed the time off. It was December and they have a no time off in December rule. I had been waiting on the appointment for about a year so I had to take it. They were very reluctant about giving it to me. I will probably get the annual leave carried over to this year, but its not really much good to me when I am down six days pay and my contract ends in a month and a half and I want them to keep me on.

There's not a lot that can be done. Legally if you are off sick then you cant claim holidays. You could have an informal and quiet word with your boss but from what you said it seems they aren't going to ignore the sick note. TBH, they could get in a lot of trouble if you decide to screw them over it later on.

runawaybishop

Sarannewrap wrote: »

This happened in Dec 2013 so would it still count?

Rules

You must apply for Illness Benefit within 7 days of becoming ill

^^ i think you left it too late

Sligo1

Sarannewrap wrote: »

I gave in the note to show work I wasnt lying about why I needed the time off. It was December and they have a no time off in December rule. I had been waiting on the appointment for about a year so I had to take it. They were very reluctant about giving it to me. I will probably get the annual leave carried over to this year, but its not really much good to me when I am down six days pay and my contract ends in a month and a half and I want them to keep me on.

Instead of taking your AL before your contract finishes could you work till the end of your contract and get them to pay you that extra week (AL) after the contract ends? (This could work if you are leaving at the end of the contract) That way you wouldn't actually be out any money... You would just get it a month or 2 later instead... (I hope I've articulated myself clearly... These things can be confusing).

rannerap

Its fairly annoying all right, especially seeing as I had only one day I was allowed to take off over Christmas as I was told I had used my days up. I got to come in and man the phones while everyone else was off using their holiday days. I would have came back in earlier during my recovery even if it killed me if I knew I wasnt going to be paid for it. They totally screwed me over

runawaybishop

Sarannewrap wrote: »

Its fairly annoying all right, especially seeing as I had only one day I was allowed to take off over Christmas as I was told I had used my days up. I got to come in and man the phones while everyone else was off using their holiday days. I would have came back in earlier during my recovery even if it killed me if I knew I wasnt going to be paid for it. They totally screwed me over

You cant even come in earlier without a "not sick" note :pac:

rannerap

Sligo1 wrote: »

Instead of taking your AL before your contract finishes could you work till the end of your contract and get them to pay you that extra week (AL) after the contract ends? (This could work if you are leaving at the end of the contract) That way you wouldn't actually be out any money... You would just get it a month or 2 later instead... (I hope I've articulated myself clearly... These things can be confusing).

Ideally I am hoping to be kept on. But they have very kindly told me I can get one day a month taken out for the next six months. So It sounds as if I am staying. but nothing is in stone

rannerap

runawaybishop wrote: »

You cant even come in earlier without a "not sick" note :pac:

Oh I know. I had to get a not sick note to come back on the advice of my boss. but I got it off the dentist the same day I got the other note and was told I could come back and get a longer note if needed as it was all 4 teeth I got out and recovery would be longer

Sligo1

runawaybishop wrote: »

Rules

You must apply for Illness Benefit within 7 days of becoming ill

^^ i think you left it too late

Sometimes they can be lenient with this rule tho! I once applied a month after as I wasn't aware of this rule at the time and I got the pay.

OP I would ring SW and ask them! Don't say that you were going to take AL etc. just ring them and tell them you were sick for a week in Dec 2013 and you weren't aware you were entitled to illness benefit and can you please apply for it now. Reiterate to them this happened in 2013 so the increased 6 days doesn't apply to you.

You might be lucky and they might pay you... But it depends who you get I'd say.

rannerap

Sligo1 wrote: »

Sometimes they can be lenient with this rule tho! I once applied a month after as I wasn't aware of this rule at the time and I got the pay.

OP I would ring SW and ask them! Don't say that you were going to take AL etc. just ring them and tell them you were sick for a week in Dec 2013 and you weren't aware you were entitled to illness benefit and can you please apply for it now. Reiterate to them this happened in 2013 so the increased 6 days doesn't apply to you.

You might be lucky and they might pay you... But it depends who you get I'd say.

I will ring them on my break and see what the story is. I genuinely wasnt aware, I've never once in my life taken time off and applied for sick pay

Sligo1

Sarannewrap wrote: »

I will ring them on my break and see what the story is. I genuinely wasnt aware, I've never once in my life taken time off and applied for sick pay

You could also just get the form from your dentist and get him/her to sign it and backdate the signiture and send it off immediately. You may be lucky. Hope it works out .

rannerap

Sligo1 wrote: »

You could also just get the form from your dentist and get him/her to sign it and backdate the signiture and send it off immediately. You may be lucky. Hope it works out .

My dad works in the dentists so I have just sent him a message there, hopefully it'll be fine! He's going to see what he can do.