Not paying sick leave due to pregnancy illness

Hootie19

My son's girlfriend works for a large furniture retailler, famous for it's meatballs.

She is about 14 weeks pregnant at the moment, and has been off work since about 8th June with all pregnancy related problems. She has bled a few times and been to A&E/GP about it. Each time she has been ready to return to work, she has started to bleed again and had to stay off work. She has obviously not done a return to work, as she hasn't been back.

she has been told today that they are not going to pay her for the sick leave. She had a couple of occasions when she had gone into work in the early stages of the pregnancy, when she had morning sickness and been sent home again. This is being classed as "ordinary" sickness.

She has spoken to an USDAW rep who has said that she should be paid for any sick time due to the pregnancy. She has then spoken to her manager, who has told her that they are NOT going to pay her. Something about her "Bradford" score is too high.

Does anyone know what the position is regarding sick pay whilst pregnant?

The_Write_Girl

All sickness should be treated as such, and it's my understanding that pregnancy-related illnesses should not be classified as such. What the employer is doing is illegal. She should be entitled to sick pay, as if it were a flu/bug etc....

thegirlintheattic

For the bleeding who told your gf she was unfit for work? If the doctor has seen her and there is nothing to worry about with the bleeding then she should go into work.

Morning sickness can be helped by wearing sea bands so that she will hopefully still be able to work.

If your employer deems that you are fit to work they do not have to pay sick pay. If your gf has been off since the 8th June then she should have got a 'fit note' from the GP to say that she is not fit for work and the company should accept this and pay sick pay. If she has not had a fit note then she will probably be asked to provide evidence that she was unwell (just being pregnant in itself doesn't class as being ill).

This page contains all the info you need:
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/Illorinjured/DG_175850

The Bradford Score is a way of HR monitoring staff absence, the more short periods of unplanned absence you have, the higher your score. Some companies use this as a way of determining who gets warnings/disciplinaries about absence, as it identifies worrying patterns of absence. Has you gf had quite a few one/two day illnesses in the last 12 months? This could explain her high score.

heretolearn_2

The Bradford score is a way of managing the total amount of paid sick leave someone gets. It has a formula relating to number of incidents of sickness and number of days of sickness. Most firms set a limit on paid sick leave, however this can only apply to their own discretionary sick pay, they have no right to withold statutory sick pay. Unfortunately SSP only kicks in from day 4 onwards of each sickness so if she is having lots of short absences, she won't be entitled to it.

Also - did she get a fit note from GP/hospital for her time off? If she didn't, then she isn't entitled to either company sick pay or SSP.

The question is whether pregnancy related sickness should be treated in the same way as other types of sickness. I don't think that there are any special exclusions for this, but it's not my area, so don't take my word for it. I just wanted to clear up about the Bradford thing...basically she's gone over her allowed amount of sick leave for this year.

SarEl

I agree. Sickness is sickness and the cause of the sickness is not relevant to sickness absence policies. If she has been off continuously since 8th June then she should receive SSP for some or all of this if her company sick pay is no longer available, and providing that she has complied with sickness absence reporting procedures, such as the provision of fit notes and the contacting of the employer at specified periods. Pregnancy related sickness is treated as any other form of sickness, except in so far as an employer must be cautious about dismissing in capability grounds for such sickness. But sickness monitoring policies all apply to pregnant employees too.

Hootie19

Thank you all. I was under the impression that her employer has told her that she will get no money at all, but I may have misunderstood her. It seems as though she should be entitled to SSP at least. Is this something that will come via her normal pay, or does she have to apply for this outside of her employer?

SarEl

Hootie19 wrote: »

Thank you all. I was under the impression that her employer has told her that she will get no money at all, but I may have misunderstood her. It seems as though she should be entitled to SSP at least. Is this something that will come via her normal pay, or does she have to apply for this outside of her employer?

I think it is very possible that she or you have misunderstood and that the conversation was about company sick pay. She should clarify this with the employer if she is at all unclear.

pinkshoes

She needs to check her contract. If she's had too much absence triggering a high Bradford Score, then it might state in her contract that she would then only be entitled to SSP rather than company sick pay. My previous contract had this in.