NHS sickness and leave allowance - credit for bank hols

[Deleted User]

Wife works part-time so gets her annual leave credit in hours. This includes credit for leave, plus credit per bank holiday (something like 3.5 hours per bh).

But, if your off sick during a bank holiday you lose the credit for that day which is fair enough.

Anyway, shes been off long term sick. The leave policy allows you to suspend sick and take accrued leave during this time (it helps to delay going to half pay etc).

So the whole of december she took as leave and then reverted to sick in January.

Employer is now saying she was on the sick so lost the hours for 3 bank holidays in December/1st Jan. We think not - she was temporarily working albeit on leave. To be honest, this was one reason why she chose December.

To be honest, I don't think employer even understands what shes on about. They just get confused.

Anyone got similar experience?

Undervalued

Whilst I sympathise with your views about the bank holidays the employer may well be within their rights not to.

Taking holiday to extend sick pay is not a legal right as indeed there is no legal right to company (as opposed to statutory) sick pay.

So the terms and conditions of the sick pay scheme are what they are. All you can do is read them very carefully and see if she has any contractual rights that help. Sadly she may well not.

headpin

Part Three Section 14.8 of the NHS Agenda for Change Document sys

"Employees will not be entitled to an additional day off if sick on a statutory holiday."


As this is the T&Cs NHS staff are employed under I would suggest that they are correct in deducting the Bank Holidays

gettingtheresometime

I know people have taken holiday when they've actually been ill but this is usually because they wouldn't get paid otherwise.

As undervalued has says it seems bizarre that you can have a situation where someone is long term sick on full pay, accrue holiday whilst sick and then use that holiday to be paid full time so that when they go back on the sick they can be paid full time.

Total madness

headpin

gettingtheresometime wrote: »

I know people have taken holiday when they've actually been ill but this is usually because they wouldn't get paid otherwise.

As undervalued has says it seems bizarre that you can have a situation where someone is long term sick on full pay, accrue holiday whilst sick and then use that holiday to be paid full time so that when they go back on the sick they can be paid full time.

Total madness

Technically it Would not make any difference financially as you are entitled to accrue holiday when sick, so you can still use it when you return to work. And sick pay is based upon a rolling period so it only delays the date when the sick pay reduces or stops. The clock is not reset. All this arrangement does is effectively buys your leave off of you in lieu of it being used later.

gettingtheresometime

headpin wrote: »

Technically it Would not make any difference financially as you are entitled to accrue holiday when sick, so you can still use it when you return to work. And sick pay is based upon a rolling period so it only delays the date when the sick pay reduces or stops. The clock is not reset. All this arrangement does is effectively buys your leave off of you in lieu of it being used later.

I understand what you're saying but you're either sick or you aren't.

alexjonsson

gettingtheresometime wrote: »

I understand what you're saying but you're either sick or you aren't.

I can't add value to this thread, but just a little ditty from my own experience.

I was off sick last year from Jan to August, and hence didn't take any leave. When I went back I still had to take by the end of December my full annual leave allowance (24 days), plus my company had credited me with 5 days of additional leave for the bank holidays that I'd been sick on that year.

So the opposite side of this situation, but likewise madness. In the end I took every Friday off and carried six days over.

Undervalued

gettingtheresometime wrote: »

I know people have taken holiday when they've actually been ill but this is usually because they wouldn't get paid otherwise.

As undervalued has says it seems bizarre that you can have a situation where someone is long term sick on full pay, accrue holiday whilst sick and then use that holiday to be paid full time so that when they go back on the sick they can be paid full time.

Total madness

I think you are misunderstanding what I said (and the law)!

Following a Supreme Court decision an employee cannot lose their STATUTORY holiday entitlement as a result off being sick. The holiday accrues just as if they had been at work. When they return to work the holiday will be there for them to take. If it has not been possible for them to take it during the "holiday year" it must be rolled over. If they normally get more holiday than the statutory minimum of 28 days then they may well lose the additional days. That depends entirely on their terms and conditions of employment.

Many employers will choose to allow the employee to take some or all of this holiday during long term sickness. However the employer is not obliged to allow this so it is entirely at their discretion. Nor can the employer force the employee to do this. The only advantage of taking holiday under these circumstances is to get full pay for those days. That could be at any time if the employee only gets statutory sick pay otherwise when their company sick pay reduces or reaches zero.

If the employee never return to work then their accrued statutory holiday must be paid in full after they leave.