No sick pay

betterlatethannever

Hi
My DD has worked, part time, for the same company for the past 11 months.
Two weeks ago (on a Saturday) she was rushed to hospital, but was discharged and recommended to rest.

She was off from Sat- Thurs. She planned to go back in on the following Monday, which would have been her next shift, after Thursday.

She's not received any sick pay and the boss is saying they don't pay sick pay, he also said he needed a sick note, yet DD wasn't off for over 7 days.

My question is, Is it normal for a company not to pay SSP?

(we're currently hunting down her contract to see what that says)
She normally works between 16 and 25 + hours a week plus does a college course.

Thanks

MissSarah1972

they need to earn earn at least £107 (before tax) per week before SSP is paid and only if you are off sick 4 days or more. If less that 7 you do not need any doctors cetificate to get it.

When she was ill what days would she have worked?

betterlatethannever

MissSarah1972 wrote: »

t
When she was ill what days would she have worked?

Thanks for the reply.
She missed out on 5 days work with approx 25 hours.
Most weeks she earns £120, but some weeks its as low as £80 and others as high as £180

Daedalus

SSP kicks in after 4 or more days. It is not normal, it is a statutory requirement that they pay it.

Does she earn more than £107 a week?

Can you work out her average weekly salary since April?

betterlatethannever

Sorry- it seems to got the wrong end of the stick- they have said that she has to have a sick note, even though she was off for only 5 days.
She was then told that a doctor charges for a sick note if its for time off of less than 7 days.
Is that true and can they really demand a sick note and refuse to pay her SSP without one?
Thanks

Daedalus

Well it is tough, you can offer to get one if they pay for it, but the statute is clear, the company can not impose burdens obstructing the statutory provisions.

To quote my shampoo bottle 'Your statutory rights are not affected'

chrisbur

The period over which the average is worked out to check for SSP entitlement for a weekly paid employee is wages paid in the eight weeks before the start of the sickness. If for any reason SSP was not entitled then a form SSP1 should be issued advising why SSP was not paid. Was the employer informed of the sickness and were any forms that they required filled in? Also the seven days before an employer can ask for a doctors' certificate are seven consecutive days not seven days you would normally work, not sure from what you have said exactly how long sickness lasted.

Uncertain

betterlatethannever wrote: »

Sorry- it seems to got the wrong end of the stick- they have said that she has to have a sick note, even though she was off for only 5 days.
She was then told that a doctor charges for a sick note if its for time off of less than 7 days.
Is that true and can they really demand a sick note and refuse to pay her SSP without one?
Thanks

They cannot lawfully withhold SSP assuming she earns enough to be qualified to receive it.

If they want a sick note ahead of the statutory 7 days then they should pay for it.

They cannot make SSP conditional on a note being provided.

Having said all that, give that SSP is not paid for the first three days we are talking about a very small amount. She has not (quite) been employed for long enough to have protection from unfair dismissal so is it wise to rock the boat?

zzzLazyDaisy

betterlatethannever wrote: »

Thanks for the reply.
She missed out on 5 days work with approx 25 hours.
Most weeks she earns £120, but some weeks its as low as £80 and others as high as £180

You need to check her contract - she does have a written statement of her terms and conditions, doesn't she?

It is not how many hours/days she normally works that counts, necessarily, it is what her contract says.

So, say her contract just says she is employed to work saturdays, but she actually often works more days than that - the three 'waiting days' would only be her contracted hours - so she'd need to miss three saturdays before she became entitled to SSP.

On the other hand if she has a zero hours contract, or a contract that says hours are flexible as the needs of the business dictates, and they vary from week to week, then it is the average of the past 12 weeks that counts.

So what does it say in her contract?

Edit - as uncertain says it is a fairly small amount of money - a full weeks' SSP is only £85.50, so with the three waiting days deducted it might not be worth arguing about.

More info here:

https://www.gov.uk/statutory-sick-pay-ssp/overview

clairec79

Did she inform them that she was fit to return from that Friday? Even though she wasn't due to work she has to tell them she is no longer off sick

mazza111

And when they say sick note, do they mean a fit note or a self certificate? A self cert would cover for the first 7 days of illness.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/forms/sc2.pdf