Can they really leave us with nothing for a month?

TELLIT01

Lioness_Twinkletoes wrote: »

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 lust before the sick pay runs out? How is that beneficial to him or the company?

The employer was content to allow him to be on sick pay for an extended period so where does 'milking' come into it? Some companies actually value their employees and hope that with assistance they may be able to return. Clearly not an attitude you would take if you were an employer.

okborednow

TELLIT01 wrote: »

The employer was content to allow him to be on sick pay for an extended period so where does 'milking' come into it? Some companies actually value their employees and hope that with assistance they may be able to return. Clearly not an attitude you would take if you were an employer.

Thanks for this Tellit. It seems like some people don’t want to be helpful and just enjoy being mean.

okborednow

Really sorry to come across as impatient or desperate but does anyone out there know where we stand and if we have a leg to stand on in fighting this?

NeilCr

Some information on SSP (including problems )here

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/work/rights-at-work/sick-pay/check-if-youre-entitled-to-sick-pay/

If he has run out of SSP you need to keep on at them for the SSP1 so he can claim ESA. Have they confirmed his SSP has run out/is runnng out? From the link, and as Tellit says they only have to pay for 28 weeks.

I guess the bottom line is that if their calculations are correct (and it does sound messy) they can't pay your husband money he is not due. Have you queried the actual calculation with them?

Are you working/claiming any benefits yourself? Might be worth a trip to CAB to see if they may be able to help.

okborednow

I’m working but our income for this month has been cut in more than half. I get that if he’s not entitled to pay they can’t pay him but he made more than 1 request to find out how much sick pay was remaining. Had they told us it would run out when it did we would have been able to plan. However they told us he had another month then 4 days before payday announced he didn’t which completely blindsided us. Added to this the fact that they now appear to be deducting what little SSP we get means it will be extremely difficult;t for us to pay basic expenses. Do employers not have a duty of care? If he has been overpaid I agree it will have to be paid back but in one in hit in a month where we have next to nothing coming in as it is?

NeilCr

I agree they have handled it badly and they do seem disorganised.

Again have you challenged them about it? Agreed the calculation?

As Comms indicates, if the calcs are correct, you'd have a problem getting them to pay any more - and, certainly, not quickly

Takeaway_Addict

okborednow wrote: »

I’m working but our income for this month has been cut in more than half. I get that if he’s not entitled to pay they can’t pay him but he made more than 1 request to find out how much sick pay was remaining. Had they told us it would run out when it did we would have been able to plan. However they told us he had another month then 4 days before payday announced he didn’t which completely blindsided us. Added to this the fact that they now appear to be deducting what little SSP we get means it will be extremely difficult;t for us to pay basic expenses. Do employers not have a duty of care? If he has been overpaid I agree it will have to be paid back but in one in hit in a month where we have next to nothing coming in as it is?

Could he not have done some calculations himself? Surely he could have had a good idea of how much he was entitled to and how much he had used?

Smodlet

No contingency fund at all?

Takeaway_Addict

okborednow wrote: »

I’m working but our income for this month has been cut in more than half. I get that if he’s not entitled to pay they can’t pay him but he made more than 1 request to find out how much sick pay was remaining. Had they told us it would run out when it did we would have been able to plan. However they told us he had another month then 4 days before payday announced he didn’t which completely blindsided us. Added to this the fact that they now appear to be deducting what little SSP we get means it will be extremely difficult;t for us to pay basic expenses. Do employers not have a duty of care? If he has been overpaid I agree it will have to be paid back but in one in hit in a month where we have next to nothing coming in as it is?

Also do the employers know your OH is leaving? If so then you can't blame them for making sure they get their money back...far easier than trying to chase once he has gone.

okborednow

It’s been handled appallingly. We thought based on our calculations he had 2 or three weeks left which is why we queried for confirmation and on being told how much we had thought all was ok. We weren’t positive he’d be well enough to return as soon as his sick pay ran out and were in the process of planning for eventualities. I can’t help feeling if the company had kept our very nice professional HR dept in our building this wouldn’t have happened. Instead they’ve outsourced it to another country. Previously if you had an HR query you’d get a prompt response but now it literally takes days. When hubby originally asked about sick pay they came back with three different answers to his manager. We’re reasonably confident now this figures are sadly correct it’s the handling that’s really upset us. If they had given us notice he had the option to return if he was well enough or we could see what we could arrange if not. It’s very hard to adjust payments etc this close to when they’re due.

Smodlet we have a few hundred but as always happens we’ve had a few catastrophes lately that depleted it and we were in the process of bui;ding it back up again.