no pay rise because of sickness record

melb

hi there would it be reasonable to deny an employee a pay rise (the annual one that everyone else will be getting) because they have taken 6 days' sickness in a year?

This was quoted as being the (sole) reason.

thanks for any input

ReadingTim

Given pay rises are discretionary, yes.

melb

fair enough. I must be lucky as where I work the annual pay rise is given to everyone. I personally think half a day a month on average is not very much.

pmlindyloo

What does it say in your contract about annual pay rises?

If the contract says nothing on this point then it is generally assumed that pay rises are discretionary on the employer's part.

ohreally

melb wrote: »

I personally think half a day a month on average is not very much.

Your employer doesn’t agree and it’s them you need to win over.

Are they prepared to review their decision or is this you permanently behind everyone else?

bugslet

personally it would depend on what the time off was for.

If it was 6 days in one go and it was known that you had a day op + recovery time, or 2 x 3 days off for flu type stuff, then I'd think it was harsh.

If it comprised of 6 days that all happened to be a Monday morning, then I'd say not.

Not implying anything about the OP, just saying there are differences. The OP may just work for people with no soul!

melb

it's actually a relative of mine. I will tell him to look at his contract.

As I said, where I work the annual pay rise is across the board.

I feel this is a money-saving exercise. He is undertaking an apprenticeship course to expand his knowledge of retail while he is working at the suggestion of his employers but this was not even mentioned at the meeting where he was given the news.

He is not in a union unfortunately.

melb

a lot of his illness has been tummy upset or bad cold and as he handles fresh produce I think he is sensible to take a day off to recover.

theoretica

Is the sick leave paid? If so, it is easy enough to puts financial value to his sick leave, compared to someone with none and compare this with the payrise he has missed.

TELLIT01

I've certainly known places where a poor attendance record would have a negative effect on their overall performance rating for the year. Failure to get an 'acceptable' rating would have meant no rise.

Masomnia

The only thing I'd add to the above is minimum wage is going up in April so he needs to ensure he's getting paid that.