6 weeks sick, employed, no pay??

Kitty4kits

Just spoke to my sister who has been very ill and was signed off work for 6 weeks by her GP. She works 16 hours PW in retail.

She's gone back to work but is still not well and I told her to get signed off again but she said she can't as she's had no income for 6 weeks. She received zilch the whole time.

I told her she is entitled to SSP surely? But she didn't know and her employer sorted nothing out at all.

She has been employed over a year, she earns over the £113 a week and she gave them a sick note

Shouldn't she have gotten SSP?

Can she claim it still from the 6 weeks?
Should her work have sorted this or is it her responsibility?

Any advice is welcome.
Especially with her rights going forwards as she is still poorly.

Many thanks.

PersianCatLady

What has her employer said about it??

I would have expected them to do it automatically but I would get her to put it in writing and give it to them ASAP.

Here is a useful link with some basic information -
https://www.gov.uk/statutory-sick-pay

Good luck

Kitty4kits

They haven't said anything to her.

She had her back to work meeting today and the didn't mention sick pay at all.

She didn't realise she was entitled to it.

Manxman_in_exile

What sort of "retail" is this?


Is she sure she hasn't been paid (check bank statements) or is this "cash in hand"?

stuartJo1989

Kitty4kits wrote: »

She works 16 hours PW in retail.

she earns over the £113 a week

May I enquire about two points?

1. Does your partner have any break allowance within those 16 hours? (2x 8 hour shifts in my workplace would accrue 2x 1 hour breaks)

2. Is your partner on minimum wage?

I ask as there is a scenario whereby your partner is on min wage AND they only get paid 15 (or less) hours per week whereby they do not exceed the £113 SSP threshold.

Example:

16 hours and 1 hour break (let's say 2x 8 hour shifts and a 30min break per shift) = 15 hours paid @ min wage (£7.50)

P/week = £112.50 (not enough to qualify for SSP)

seashore22

stuartJo1989 wrote: »

May I enquire about two points?

1. Does your partner have any break allowance within those 16 hours? (2x 8 hour shifts in my workplace would accrue 2x 1 hour breaks)

2. Is your partner on minimum wage?

I ask as there is a scenario whereby your partner is on min wage AND they only get paid 15 (or less) hours per week whereby they do not exceed the £113 SSP threshold.

Example:

16 hours and 1 hour break (let's say 2x 8 hour shifts and a 30min break per shift) = 15 hours paid @ min wage (£7.50)

P/week = £112.50 (not enough to qualify for SSP)

You mean sister.

chrisbur

There are other possibilities for SSP not being paid but either it is paid or the employee should be advised it is not being paid either an SSP1 form or letter. Whatever the reason for non-payment they are entitled to a written explanation, which they can then refer to HMRC if they disagree.

Having said that sometimes things go wrong, fit notes get lost between departments etc so first course of action needs to be query with payroll.

stuartJo1989

seashore22 wrote: »

You mean sister.

Thanks for your insight

PersianCatLady

stuartJo1989 wrote: »

May I enquire about two points?

1. Does your partner have any break allowance within those 16 hours? (2x 8 hour shifts in my workplace would accrue 2x 1 hour breaks)

2. Is your partner on minimum wage?

I ask as there is a scenario whereby your partner is on min wage AND they only get paid 15 (or less) hours per week whereby they do not exceed the £113 SSP threshold.

Example:

16 hours and 1 hour break (let's say 2x 8 hour shifts and a 30min break per shift) = 15 hours paid @ min wage (£7.50)

P/week = £112.50 (not enough to qualify for SSP)

The OP did say that her sister gets paid over £113 a week so I don't know if your post is relevant to her.

However, you raise a very valid point there about the actual hours worked after deducting lunch breaks.

I would not be surprised if there are lots of people who are shafted like this by employers in the UK.

TELLIT01

If there is no entitlement to SSP the employer has to complete a form SSP1 to explain why. The OP's sister would then be able to make a claim for ESA.
Despite the fact that she has now returned to work she can still make a backdated claim for ESA but will need the SSP1 and the medical certificate in order to do so. She needs to act fairly quickly as claims can only be backdated 13 weeks apart from exceptional circumstances.

stuartJo1989

PersianCatLady wrote: »

The OP did say that her sister gets paid over £113 a week so I don't know if your post is relevant to her..

True, but it would be interesting to know exact numbers.

Could be that OP is taking a monthly figure (say £455) and dividing it by 4, as there are roughly 4 weeks in a month. Weekly wage done this way is £113.5 but there are usually 30 days in a month, and a pattern of 2x 8 hour shifts per week could look like:

xxxxx88 xxxxx88 xxxxx88 xxxxx88 xx
(30 day month)

That's 8x8hour shifts, or 64 hours in the month (not even including breaks!). Multiply by £7.50 = £480 and then divide by (30/7) 4.2857 weeks per month to get £112 per week. Not enough to qualify for SSP.