Sick Pay?

eth0_

Can any legal eagles out there help me?
Is it legal for your employer to refuse to pay you for a week you were out sick, even if you have the doctors certificate and the social welfare form?

My employer is refusing, saying it is 'at their discretion'. This sounds highly wrong to me, can anyone tell me if this is legal?

Tazz T

All the relevant details relating to sick pay should be in your employment contract, assuming you have one.

eth0_

I meant legally, not in terms of my contract.

Meh

http://www.mop.ie/htm/practice/employment/docs/employoverview071999.pdf

Sick Pay
There is no statutory obligation on an employer to pay an employee sick pay in the event of absence from work due to illness. An employee may be entitled to social welfare benefit payable by the State if he or she is absent from work for three days or more due to illness.

So unless your contract entitles you to sick pay, you're out of luck. Claiming the dole for the 5 days you were sick would probably be more trouble than it's worth...
Also http://www.hrmaster.com/cgi-bin/client-zone/PPPclientzone/keycase23.htm

eth0_

I rang the dept. social welfare there and they said i'm entitled to disability benefit, for the other 4 days I was off sick.
And it's no trouble, I just have to send them in the forms my doctor gave me, I don't even have to get my employer to sign them, so I'm a little pissed off at them for not mentioning disability benefits, and trying to withhold my social welfare claim form and doctors cert.

Victor

You could ask to be paid some of the holiday pay you are due, but this would mean eating into your holidays.

gurramok

Hey etho_, didnt know your employer was that greedy
My employer who you know , pays sick pay all the time and in your circumstances, doctors cert is needed after 2 days absence.

No wonder alot of people are leaving 'your' company

As said earlier some company's including my previous employer sorta encouraged people who went sick for long periods to take them as holidays, not sure if that practice is legal in employment law. Strange given the fact that a person is entitled to disability benefit once they are sick from work

Victor

Originally posted by gurramok
Strange given the fact that a person is entitled to disability benefit once they are sick from work

Only from the third day sick on, terms and conditions apply.

Hellrazer

What a lot of employers do now is get you to claim the Social Welfare cheque and give it to them(The employer)
Its so that they dont lose out on 3-4 full days pay.