Settlement agreement when off sick

jintyb

I am currently off long term sick from work after undergoing cancer treatment. Due to ongoing health issues as a result of this, I have now been off for over 2 years and am signed off till September.
Under my contract, I am paid 60% of my salary and retain all my benefits such as pension contributions etc.
In know my employer is paying off people at present, partcularly employees with long service like me. I have 15 years service.
I think that because I am off sick, they cannot approach me with a "pay off" proposal because cancer diagnosis is covered by certain legalities.
Can I approach my HR dept and suggest they pay me off? If so, how do I do it?
obviously, I would like to protect myself, I dont just want to hand in my notice if there are packages being given out to others.
In addition, I am in the process of accessing my pensions early as I am 56, so a payoff would really ease the financial pressure.
I would be really grateful for some advice.

getmore4less

IS the 60% pay a long term sickness insurance policy or something the company just do?

I think this will be key to the approach

Not sure of the correct terms.
Depending on the prognosis(will you get well enough to work again) companies insurance and pension will capitalise the future liabilities into a early payment.

Undervalued

jintyb wrote: »

I think that because I am off sick, they cannot approach me with a "pay off" proposal because cancer diagnosis is covered by certain legalities.
Can I approach my HR dept and suggest they pay me off? If so, how do I do it?

Whilst cancer is automatically a disability for employment law purposes that does not in any way mean they cannot "pay you off" or possibly even look at dismissing you on capability grounds without any pay off (apart from contractual notice) I'm afraid.

The disability simply means that they must make "reasonable adjustments" but they do not go anything like as far as many people think.

The contractual provisions of your sick pay scheme and / or pension may give you certain additional protections or benefits but that is above and beyond the default employment law position.

You really need to obtain some professional advice about your situation either from your union, a solicitor or a charity that specialises in your condition.

There is nothing to stop you asking if they will consider a settlement agreement but as to how much, that depends entirely on the strength of your negotiating position and possible on the extent of the firm's goodwill.

jintyb

getmore4less wrote: »

IS the 60% pay a long term sickness insurance policy or something the company just do?

I think this will be key to the approach

Not sure of the correct terms.
Depending on the prognosis(will you get well enough to work again) companies insurance and pension will capitalise the future liabilities into a early payment.

Thank you for taking the time to post.
The 60% pay is paid to my employer via the Group Income Protection Policy, they then in turn pay me.
To clarify, I am not terminally ill but have on going health issues related to my illness/treatment. I will not be well enough to resume my job.

jintyb

Undervalued wrote: »

Whilst cancer is automatically a disability for employment law purposes that does not in any way mean they cannot "pay you off" or possibly even look at dismissing you on capability grounds without any pay off (apart from contractual notice) I'm afraid.

The disability simply means that they must make "reasonable adjustments" but they do not go anything like as far as many people think.

The contractual provisions of your sick pay scheme and / or pension may give you certain additional protections or benefits but that is above and beyond the default employment law position.


You really need to obtain some professional advice about your situation either from your union, a solicitor or a charity that specialises in your condition.

There is nothing to stop you asking if they will consider a settlement agreement but as to how much, that depends entirely on the strength of your negotiating position and possible on the extent of the firm's goodwill.

That is very helpful, so thanks for your input.
I was thinking about asking my union for advice, they have free legal help too, so that may be the way to go.
My main fear is that if I do go back, and get ill again, I will have no sick pay from work at all as they operate a rolling period sickness absence policy. If I went back I couldn't be sick for 2.5 years. I am looking to cut my losses and get out, but without losing out if I can avoid it.

getmore4less

as it is an insurance then I think they will be the ones you will have to deal with.

If it is indefinate(retirement age) then they may be willing to capitalize their comitment now.

Definately get advice from someone that knows about this stuff, I have only seen it from a coworker of people that have been on long terms sick.

one of them(bad back) was getting pay rises every year on the policy while everyone in the company had a pay freeze, the other got theirs capitalized as they were never going to work again due to mobility issues from their illness.

jintyb

getmore4less wrote: »

as it is an insurance then I think they will be the ones you will have to deal with.

If it is indefinate(retirement age) then they may be willing to capitalize their comitment now.

Definately get advice from someone that knows about this stuff, I have only seen it from a coworker of people that have been on long terms sick.

one of them(bad back) was getting pay rises every year on the policy while everyone in the company had a pay freeze, the other got theirs capitalized as they were never going to work again due to mobility issues from their illness.

Hi there, no I still get paid directly by my emloyer. i cannot deal with the insurance company as it is my firm that is their client not me. They wont discuss anything with me, I always have to go via HR if I need toknow anything. I do get an increase annually in line with inflation and am subject to regular assessment by Oc health and medical team. The policy will pay out until I am 60 providing I meet the medical criteria.
Thank you for replying

belisha-beacon

Cancer counts as a disability under the Equality Act, and employers should not count disability-related sick leave when it comes to any 'penalties' for sick leave such as getting no pay or being disciplined. So do get union advice - if you've been told you would not be able to take paid sick leave for 2.5 years I'm almost certain that would not be seen as fair.

Also, (do get advice to confirm this), but there's no way I'd even be broaching them paying me off until I got information from the pension company about whether they'd pay ill-health retirement benefits. Often better terms than standard early retirement benefits (eg. in my company pension, if I retired due to ill-health my pension would be based on what I would have got if I had been able to work to pensionable age, whereas if I retired early through choice it would be less than that). If you leave your employment then a company pension scheme would not have to pay out on retirement from ill-health. They'd argue you'd gone for other reasons, ie. because you wanted the payoff. So, my gut feeling would be: talk to a union. Talk to the pension company and get the ball rolling on whether you'd be eligible for ill-health retirement. Only then should you even think about talking to your employer about whether they'd like to come to a reasonable solution, given that you are unlikely to be able to work for them in future.

Undervalued

belisha-beacon wrote: »

Cancer counts as a disability under the Equality Act, and employers should not count disability-related sick leave when it comes to any 'penalties' for sick leave such as getting no pay or being disciplined. So do get union advice - if you've been told you would not be able to take paid sick leave for 2.5 years I'm almost certain that would not be seen as fair.

Sorry, but that is somewhat overstated I'm afraid.

As I said in an earlier post they must make "reasonable adjustments" which would probably include showing some latitude in this area. However they do not necessarily as far as you suggest in order to comply with the law.

That said, many employers do go far further than the bare minimum the law requires and hopefully the OP's is one of them.

jintyb

It has been a few weeks since my last post and there has been some developments.
I had a call from HR today to say that UNUM ( who reimburse my employer with my long term sick pay) to say that they have ceased paying my claim. The last med records they accessed were May 2015 although things have changed medically for me since then. They ( UNUM) will pay me for August and Sept as a transition period without liability. I have 90 days to lodge an appeal. However, if the appeal is successful, and payments are reinstated, they will reclaim the Aug/Sept payments from any future money they pay me. I am due to have more surgery in October ( reconstruction surgery following breast cancer treatment) which although is a one day op, has a@ 3-4 week recovery.
I am totally panicking as not only do I have the surgery coming up, I also have Crohn's Disease which is causing ma a lot of problems. I am scared to go back in case I am ill again, in which case I would not get any sick pay ( in line with the company's policy) . The stress of this is not helping!
Would consulting my union help? I am a member of GMB although my work does not have a union as such.
I would appreciate any advice.

KayJay

Yes, you absolutely should contact your Union. They should be supporting and representing you through this. I think you should be considering Early Ill Health Retirement. You have two conditions that would be considered and it would certainly be the answer to assist financially. Do this before you access any pensions! Google EIHR and look at the different tiers. If you have been off for the length of time you have, then you have a good chance of success.