Employment Rights - Sick Pay

NiceyNice

Last month the company I work for stopped paying sick pay - certified and uncertified.
To add insult to injury, they are informing employees on an ad-hoc basis once they return to work.
The company has c. 300 employees nationwide and is a subsidiary of a larger UK company which has a further c. 3K employees. Sick pay is outlined in our employment contacts on a discretionary basis.
I'm not entirely sure what prompted it but the owner of the company, who can only be described as an English version of Trump, just decided to stop paying all employees sick pay one day. In fairness, conditions in the company weren't great to begin with, but shouldn't there be some statutory notice with regard to these changes?
Today I had a colleague crying on the phone to me who has a legitimate chronic illness, which they require time off for treatment. There aren't many of these colleagues but we all feel any reduction of income. Even hospital appointments must be treated as sick days - either half or full days, depending on requirements.
Today, two people are in work who have been certified to be off. One is on a crutch who is waiting on knee surgery. The other is in an arm sling after a fall.
I'm scared as hell that I'll have some sort of accident which leaves me off work and I'll not be paid. It's not as if it's a great time to be unable to pay the rent.

weldoninhio

NiceyNice wrote: »

Last month the company I work for stopped paying sick pay - certified and uncertified.
To add insult to injury, they are informing employees on an ad-hoc basis once they return to work.
The company has c. 300 employees nationwide and is a subsidiary of a larger UK company which has a further c. 3K employees. Sick pay is outlined in our employment contacts on a discretionary basis.
I'm not entirely sure what prompted it but the owner of the company, who can only be described as an English version of Trump, just decided to stop paying all employees sick pay one day. In fairness, conditions in the company weren't great to begin with, but shouldn't there be some statutory notice with regard to these changes?
Today I had a colleague crying on the phone to me who has a legitimate chronic illness, which they require time off for treatment. There aren't many of these colleagues but we all feel any reduction of income. Even hospital appointments must be treated as sick days - either half or full days, depending on requirements.
Today, two people are in work who have been certified to be off. One is on a crutch who is waiting on knee surgery. They other is in an arm sling after a fall.
I'm scared as hell that I'll have some sort of accident which leaves me off work and I'll not be paid. It's not as if it's a great time to be unable to pay the rent.

I was off work for a long time a year or so ago. I felt good enough to come back, but HR wouldn't let me as I was still certified to be off work and I wouldn't be insured to be on the premises.

NiceyNice

weldoninhio wrote: »

I was off work for a long time a year or so ago. I felt good enough to come back, but HR wouldn't let me as I was still certified to be off work and I wouldn't be insured to be on the premises.

I thought there would have been insurance issues too but I'd be surprised if this place actually has insurance.
We barely have a HR department.

c6ysaphjvqw41k

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NiceyNice

Alison Incalculable Disk wrote: »

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Thanks Alison Incalculable Disk, I'm sorry to hear about your circumstances.
PHI policies and the like are pretty crap. The earliest they kick in is after 90 days of illness and at a lower rate than your actual salary.

davo10

The most important phrase on your opening post is "on a discretionary basis" in the terms of your contract. This means that the decision to pay sick leave is at the discretion of the employer.

its debatable whether scheduled appointments at hospitals or GPs is actually sick leave.

If a worker is attending while unfit to carry out duties, then the manager should be fired. Health and Safety protocols should have been followed.

c6ysaphjvqw41k

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NiceyNice

davo10 wrote: »

The most important phrase on your opening post is "on a discretionary basis" in the terms of your contract. This means that the decision to pay sick leave is at the discretion of the employer.

its debatable whether scheduled appointments at hospitals or GPs is actually sick leave.

If a worker is attending while unfit to carry out duties, then the manager should be fired. Health and Safety protocols should have been followed.

Health and Safety what now? God I need a new job!

Full Marx

I take it you are not a member of a trade union?

NiceyNice

Full Marx wrote: »

I take it you are not a member of a trade union?

Honestly, if the owner of the company got a sniff of a TU, he'd find a way to get rid of you. He's a tyrant.

Full Marx

NiceyNice wrote: »

Honestly, if the owner of the company got a sniff of a TU, he'd find a way to get rid of you. He's a tyrant.

Its easy for me to say but you should try to find a job where you are respected as a human being