Can an Employer sack you

Undervalued

Sukhi23 said:

Torry_Quine said:

AskAsk said:

Sukhi23 said:

@AskAsk I have been with them more then 4 years and never really been on sick before but recently due to Covid I have gone off on sick due to stress and anxiety but worried they might get rid of me. 

because of employment law in the UK, it is actually very difficult for an employer to sack you because of ill health.  you will have to be ill so often and for so long that it becomes a real issue for the employer.  there are long processes that they have to follow to dismiss someone because they are sick, which can include them demanding that you are examined by their consultant doctor.  they will also give you warning so you have a chance to 'recover'.

Sadly not always true. My husband had only been off ill 4 months with cancer when he was told that his contract would be ended as they couldn't afford him. He was only on SSP and had worked there 3 ½  years. 

I am so sorry,I didn't think the employer was allowed to do that!

Yes they are providing they follow proper process. Some would be more flexible / generous (see my previous post) but ultimately a business is not a charity and it employs people because work needs doing. Any sickness absence is a cost to the employer (who has to meet the cost of even SSP, not the government) and then has to pay quite often more in overtime or temporary staff to cover the work. An average amount of sickness is of course factored in to employment costs but any extensive sick pay provision is effectively a form of insurance. 

AskAsk

Undervalued said:

AskAsk said:

Sukhi23 said:

@AskAsk I have been with them more then 4 years and never really been on sick before but recently due to Covid I have gone off on sick due to stress and anxiety but worried they might get rid of me. 

because of employment law in the UK, it is actually very difficult for an employer to sack you because of ill health.  you will have to be ill so often and for so long that it becomes a real issue for the employer.  there are long processes that they have to follow to dismiss someone because they are sick, which can include them demanding that you are examined by their consultant doctor.  they will also give you warning so you have a chance to 'recover'.

It really isn't "very" difficult, nor do the processes have to be "long". Obviously it depends on exactly what you mean by these terms but I think you are well overstating the degree of protection that exists.

It is quite possible for an employer to lawfully run a very tight sickness absence policy with warnings kicking in really quite early. Providing they apply the policy properly then "harsh but fair" is usually lawful. Obviously many employer choose to be far more flexible and generous but that doesn't mean all do.

i have seen so many people take advantage of the sick leave option because the employer is worried in sacking them and then get sued for unfair dismissal.  

OP - here is the link from the gov website on dismisal on ill health.  it does state in there that the employer must give the employee reasonable time to recover

https://www.gov.uk/dismissal/reasons-you-can-be-dismissed#:~:text=Illness,you sick and needs changing

Undervalued

AskAsk said:

Undervalued said:

AskAsk said:

Sukhi23 said:

@AskAsk I have been with them more then 4 years and never really been on sick before but recently due to Covid I have gone off on sick due to stress and anxiety but worried they might get rid of me. 

because of employment law in the UK, it is actually very difficult for an employer to sack you because of ill health.  you will have to be ill so often and for so long that it becomes a real issue for the employer.  there are long processes that they have to follow to dismiss someone because they are sick, which can include them demanding that you are examined by their consultant doctor.  they will also give you warning so you have a chance to 'recover'.

It really isn't "very" difficult, nor do the processes have to be "long". Obviously it depends on exactly what you mean by these terms but I think you are well overstating the degree of protection that exists.

It is quite possible for an employer to lawfully run a very tight sickness absence policy with warnings kicking in really quite early. Providing they apply the policy properly then "harsh but fair" is usually lawful. Obviously many employer choose to be far more flexible and generous but that doesn't mean all do.

i have seen so many people take advantage of the sick leave option because the employer is worried in sacking them and then get sued for unfair dismissal.  

OP - here is the link from the gov website on dismisal on ill health.  it does state in there that the employer must give the employee reasonable time to recover

https://www.gov.uk/dismissal/reasons-you-can-be-dismissed#:~:text=Illness,you sick and needs changing

The key word in the guidance you link is "should" (i.e. not must)!

It is all a question of degree but as I said earlier it is possible to run a perfectly lawful sickness management policy that is far tighter than many people would image, providing it is clearly set out and applied consistently.

JustAnotherSaver

I've only skim read through so apologies if this has actually been answered.

From my skim reading I only see wishy-washy "too long" comments and "difficult".

What exactly is "too long"?

Difficult to me means possible so what hurdles do they need to jump to sack someone?

Without going too deep in to detail, I know of a small business that is looking to get rid of one of their employees as they're terrible at their job. Probably been there 18 month. 

Unlike is alluded to here, it doesn't seem so cut-&-dry to get rid of someone before the 24month marker. Have previously questioned this. I know the employer in my question is having to jump through various hoops to get rid.

This employee has suddenly gone off citing stress. From what i've been told, they or their partner is making false accusations which can be disproved by a hearing recording that employer & employee agreed to (be recorded).

antonic

Yes they can , but it wont be on the grounds of sickness, it will be on the grounds of capability.
(They accept you have been genuinely ill but have accumulated so much sick leave that you can`t come back to your job and work effectively).
It happens in the Civil Service