Can they really leave us with nothing for a month?

okborednow

Please be gentle with me as I’m at breaking point at the moment! My husband has been with the same company for 11 years but due to a change in the job (adding a targeted sales element to a non sales role) he has been off sick for extended periods over the last 18 months due to stress. In this most recent period he was concerned he’d be coming to the end of his sick pay and so in a catch up meeting with his manager asked her to query it with the HR dept. They apparently came back to her with 3 different amounts finally at the end of July saying he had 58 days remaining but July may not have been taken into account. Based on this he liaised with his doctor, counsellor and Manager to return to work in ample time. Two days ago however he was told that the sick leave has been miscalculated and actually ran out on July 25th. It was Naturally a huge blow and caused a lot of worry and stress for us. I’ve been scrambling around to see what outgoings we can cut and if I can get a one month payment holiday on the mortgage. But we consoled ourselves with the fact he would still get SSP

When his payslip became available today though it only shows £24. There are a million additions and deductions but all we can figure is that they overpaid him for 7 days in July’s pay and are reclaiming it and basically leaving us with nothing!

Many many thanks if you’ve made it this far! My questions are 1) can they tell him in writing he has a certain amount of sick pay left then change their mind a few days before pay day with no notice whatsoever? 2) Can they really deduct all his SSP and leave us with nothing?

Any words of wisdom or advice would be gratefully received

TELLIT01

If your husband has been off sick for an extended period it's likely his entitlement to SSP has ended. It's paid for 28 weeks. If that is the case he will have to make a claim ESA or Universal Credit if UC is now active in your area.

Lioness_Twinkletoes

Would he not have better off finding another job rather than milking the firm's sick pay benefit for eighteen months, before returning to a post that is sooooo stressful just before the sick pay runs out? How is that beneficial to him or the company?

PasturesNew

Lioness_Twinkletoes wrote: »

...

The OP said "please be gentle".

Please read the instructions in the future

okborednow

Lioness twinkletoes

In point of fact...
A) he has already gotten another job and is waiting on a start date
he hasn’t been off eighteen months just lots in that period, around 7 months.
C) it would be lovely to exist in a world where one can afford to go without pay until they are properly better but we don’t live there and so we need his wage. He therefore had to go back f[before it ran out
D) when someone is clearly really stressed and upset does it give you some sadistic charge to be able to be so smug and sanctimonious in your comments? I’ve seen the viciousness of the comments on here before and was afraid of posting because of the likelihood of similar ones in this thread but as I said i’m desperate.

Smodlet

It definitely sounds as if your husband would be better served in another job. I know exactly what you mean regarding having a sales element arbitrarily added on to a job which entailed no element of that when taken on.

This happened to me in an unscheduled meeting for which the whole team were given 15 minutes' notice 15 minutes before home time and went on for 2 hours, the time for which was not paid. We were given no choice in the matter. I should have quit then and there and spared OH a long wait in a freezing cold car park when he had the 'flu. I hope that horrible employer reaps what they sowed.

Comms69

I think the key thing is that any challenge to this will take time; so whether your right or they are is largely immaterial in the immediate future.

Contact utilities, council tax etc. Delay the payments.

Miss them if you have too; it’ll be a while before they do anything.

Smodlet

Comms69 wrote: »

I think the key thing is that any challenge to this will take time; so whether your right or they are is largely immaterial in the immediate future.

Contact utilities, council tax etc. Delay the payments.

Miss them if you have too; it’ll be a while before they do anything.

Depending on where your credit is at, I would be inclined to use a 0% credit card for spending before I did any of the above but, if that is not an option, it could be good advice. I think the smartest thing might be to assume you have seen the last penny from that particular employment and to go from there.

okborednow

Thanks to everyone who has posted a kind reply

Tellit no by our calculations he still has ssp left and even if he didn’t our understanding is that by law when ssp runs out the employee has to be issued with an SP1 form and until it is issued legally the company has to keep paying ssp. We haven’t received the form.

Smodlet, sorry about your experience! I used to work for that company too and was great at my job but that became irrelevant, if you weren’t good at selling you were out. I left and got another job. Believe me when I tell you me and my hubby are far from the only people suffering. Stress and anxiety absence is rife!

Comms yes we are working on the assumption we’ll get nothing this month and are working things out. Luckily the mortgage is on a payment holiday this month which is a relief. We’re also looking at what else we can cut back and we do have a few hundred saved we can use.

Pastures New, thanks for being nice.

Comms69

Smodlet wrote: »

Depending on where your credit is at, I would be inclined to use a 0% credit card for spending before I did any of the above but, if that is not an option, it could be good advice. I think the smartest thing might be to assume you have seen the last penny from that particular employment and to go from there.

Sure I just assumed the OP didn’t have that facility given the nature of the thread.

Smodlet

Hey, okborednow, I wish you and your hubby all the best. I am sure he has some great skills which could transfer to loads of other roles.

For whatever tiny bit it is worth, please convey my best wishes to him. I know the value of an incredibly wonderful, supportive partner; he is lucky to have you, I think.

Smodlet x