Sick pay coming to an end. Please help

stuhse

Mands said:

stuhse said:

You havent said whats wrong; are you ever going to be well enough to return to work. ?
 

Ever? He's 68. How much longer do you want him to work for?

Im not bothered that would be up to him; but he hasnt mentioned a desire to retire and take his pension (if he has one)which would be one obvious solution to his money worries.  The other obvious solution would be to return to work if he is able.  Its hard to tell if these are realistic options or what he wants to do without any further information. Im only trying to help by drawing out relevant information with some sensitive questioning.   

Exodi

brightondave said:

Hi, ive worked for a major company for over 10 years and have been signed off by my doctor since late February.
Ive had the meeting with my boss and HR regarding my health situation and have been notified that my sick pay comes to an end this month.
Is the onus on them next for me to be put on SSP or do i have to apply for it myself? Also they want to know what my long term plans are, whether i'll be back or not?  Thankyou for any feedback that might help me.

As others have suggested in this thread - this is now a benefits issue rather than an employment issue.

As I'm sure you can appreciate, a company can not be expected to subsidise a sick employee indefinitely. Six months of full pay is not bad going.

You say "Also they want to know what my long term plans are, whether i'll be back or not?" which I find somewhat confusing, because it's a reasonable question and you don't answer it, but instead direct it to us to answer for you? We don't know, what are your long terms plans? Is your condition one which you'll expect to recover from? Are you planning to retire anytime soon?

This isn't just a specific company being mean, I expect most businesses would handle this the exact same way (though perhaps with less generous CSP arrangements).

[Deleted User]

Tell work that you'll be back regardless of what your thoughts at the moment are. If you've been on full pay as you've stated, you will automatically receive SSP once full pay stops, just keep putting in the sick notes into work. 

TBagpuss

[Deleted User] said:

Tell work that you'll be back regardless of what your thoughts at the moment are. If you've been on full pay as you've stated, you will automatically receive SSP once full pay stops, just keep putting in the sick notes into work. 

SSP only continues for up to 28 weeks. If OP has already ben off since February it sounds as though they will be coming to the end of that - sick pay from an employer in generally inclusive of SSP. If their sick pay was 6 months (26 weeks) then there may be another 2 weeks of SSP before it ends entirely, but there's unlikely to be more than that.  

Exodi

matt1976 said:

Tell work that you'll be back regardless of what your thoughts at the moment are. If you've been on full pay as you've stated, you will automatically receive SSP once full pay stops, just keep putting in the sick notes into work. 

I'm suprised at your response given your position... that's not good advice and it doesn't work like that, employers aren't expected to pay SSP indefinitely, it lasts for up to 28 weeks:

https://www.gov.uk/statutory-sick-pay

Unfortunately I've first had experience with this, as I've had staff on long-term sick leave for one reason or another. Approaching the end of the period, we usually have a quiet sit down and ask what they'd like to do - realistically the option being between resigning (and being paid accrued holiday) or sitting on the books at zero pay.

'Pretending' you'll be back helps no-one. The OP should be having a real conversation with themselves about what they want to do. I think unfortunately it sounds like they thought they could receive sick pay forever (in which case, it begins to become clearer why at 68 they're not even thinking about retirement yet!).

Exodi

TBagpuss said:

matt1976 said:

Tell work that you'll be back regardless of what your thoughts at the moment are. If you've been on full pay as you've stated, you will automatically receive SSP once full pay stops, just keep putting in the sick notes into work. 

SSP only continues for up to 28 weeks. If OP has already ben off since February it sounds as though they will be coming to the end of that - sick pay from an employer in generally inclusive of SSP. If their sick pay was 6 months (26 weeks) then there may be another 2 weeks of SSP before it ends entirely, but there's unlikely to be more than that.  

Spot on - and almost certainly the reason the employer has held a meeting with the OP, they even say it themselves:

"(I) have been notified that my sick pay comes to an end this month."

No sense 'pretending' you'll be back if you know you won't, underhand techniques like that are exactly why these limits exist in the first place, else it would be quite an attractive strategy to top up retirement income - e.g. go to work in your 70's+, get signed off sick for one of your various ailments, get ~£500 a month SSP forever alongside your private and state pensions, sip margaritas in the Bahamas.