HR told me they won’t pay me for my sick leave

khamzat93

Over a week ago now, I was admitted into hospital and diagnosed with Bell’s palsy which has left my half my face in a paralysis state and leaving me unable to talk properly. When I got sick, I spoke to my team leader regarding my sick pay for the time off and I had to get him to reassure few times that I will be paid for the 10 days (currently) that the doctors have advised I use to rest and recover. He spoke to HR who confirmed I have 10 days remaining of sick paid leave so these 10 days will be paid, 100%. 

Today I received an email from my team leader who apologises and say he was misled by HR and that I won’t be paid for the 10 days as I took time off last year in September when I had a bad case of bronchitis. 

Surely this is not fair? It’s put me in a really difficult situation now, I have no other income to support myself. I’ve emailed HR who have admitted they made a mistake so surely they should now rectify this? What can I do? 

Brie

How much time did you have off for bronchitis?  Sounds like there's some sort of rolling year for sick leave and they are now saying you have exceeded the maximum.  If you took 10 days last Sept and the max allowed is 10 days then yes you're in a bit of a mess. 

You should as a minimum get statutory sick leave I believe.  It's minimal granted but better than nothing.  

Do you have a union who could work on your behalf to find a compromise?  Maybe you need to have this back dated as holiday if it really leaves you stuck.  

khamzat93

Brie said:

How much time did you have off for bronchitis?  Sounds like there's some sort of rolling year for sick leave and they are now saying you have exceeded the maximum.  If you took 10 days last Sept and the max allowed is 10 days then yes you're in a bit of a mess. 

You should as a minimum get statutory sick leave I believe.  It's minimal granted but better than nothing.  

Do you have a union who could work on your behalf to find a compromise?  Maybe you need to have this back dated as holiday if it really leaves you stuck.  

I was off for 17 days but I provided all the sick notes and evidence that I was sick and in hospital. I’m entitled to 20 days sick pay in a rolling year which I even mentioned to my team leader last week when I spoke to him but again he and HR reassured me not worry and that I will be paid in full for this time I’m taking off but now they’re telling me I won’t be paid because they made a mistake. Even on my account on the HR portal it showed that I had 10 days remaining so they’ve even made an error there. 

I’m not currently with a union, no. 

Brie

So if it's 20 days in a year, you've used 17 and that leaves you with 3 for this round of sickness.  So they have to pay you for that.  Then ask about using holidays.  They often don't like it but might compromise as they had made the mistake.  

DullGreyGuy

I'm surprised you were signed off for 10 days for Bells Palsy, had the misfortune of having it last August and speaking/not dribbling was difficult but didnt even think of taking time off work... even went through 3 interviews (got the job) with it - A&E did tell me off for delaying going as obv symptoms aren't dissimilar to a stroke but interview was more important at the time. 

Any enhanced sick pay will come down to the terms and conditions of your employment, you should be able to check them in your contract or on the intranet/HR site. Given you had a fit note from a doctor saying you weren't fit to work then you will get Statutory Sick Pay as that isn't subject to company policy. 

khamzat93

Brie said:

So if it's 20 days in a year, you've used 17 and that leaves you with 3 for this round of sickness.  So they have to pay you for that.  Then ask about using holidays.  They often don't like it but might compromise as they had made the mistake.  

I have no more holidays left, it refreshes end up September for me. DullGreyGuy said:

I'm surprised you were signed off for 10 days for Bells Palsy, had the misfortune of having it last August and speaking/not dribbling was difficult but didnt even think of taking time off work... even went through 3 interviews (got the job) with it - A&E did tell me off for delaying going as obv symptoms aren't dissimilar to a stroke but interview was more important at the time. 

Any enhanced sick pay will come down to the terms and conditions of your employment, you should be able to check them in your contract or on the intranet/HR site. Given you had a fit note from a doctor saying you weren't fit to work then you will get Statutory Sick Pay as that isn't subject to company policy. 

DullGreyGuy said:

I'm surprised you were signed off for 10 days for Bells Palsy, had the misfortune of having it last August and speaking/not dribbling was difficult but didnt even think of taking time off work... even went through 3 interviews (got the job) with it - A&E did tell me off for delaying going as obv symptoms aren't dissimilar to a stroke but interview was more important at the time. 

Any enhanced sick pay will come down to the terms and conditions of your employment, you should be able to check them in your contract or on the intranet/HR site. Given you had a fit note from a doctor saying you weren't fit to work then you will get Statutory Sick Pay as that isn't subject to company policy. 

khamzat93

DullGreyGuy said:

I'm surprised you were signed off for 10 days for Bells Palsy, had the misfortune of having it last August and speaking/not dribbling was difficult but didnt even think of taking time off work... even went through 3 interviews (got the job) with it - A&E did tell me off for delaying going as obv symptoms aren't dissimilar to a stroke but interview was more important at the time. 

Any enhanced sick pay will come down to the terms and conditions of your employment, you should be able to check them in your contract or on the intranet/HR site. Given you had a fit note from a doctor saying you weren't fit to work then you will get Statutory Sick Pay as that isn't subject to company policy. 

Bells Palsy is pretty serious, didn’t even know what it was until I got it. I can’t close my eye, speak or eat properly at the moment. 

It’s the fact they’ve made a mistake and provided me with false information which has now put me in a very difficult situation as I have monthly outgoings, debts and other things I need to pay for. If I knew I wasn’t going to be paid, I would have told the doctor to allow me to work but on amended duties, my team leader knows this too but instead HR and my team leader both told me I’ll be paid in full, not to worry and just to rest. 

DullGreyGuy

I know what it is, thankfully I knew what it was before getting it hence knew it wasnt a stroke and hence did the interview first but I was late starting the steroids so risked a longer duration.  The interviewer mentioned their father had had it several times so knew all about it. 

The other annoying bit about not being able to close your eye is that you cannot wear contacts and I have no idea where my glasses are as I'm never without contacts. 

Their mistake shouldn't have changed your position, you state your doctor said you were unfit for work and gave you a fit note on that basis. If you can afford to be off sick or not should not change their medical opinion. Having been signed off sick you shouldn't be allowed to work and it would cause the employer a host of issues had you gone to work against your doctors advice. For me a sick note wasnt even mentioned, though the guys down the pub did mock me terribly for it but I could self certify not going their for a few days

On the plus side, the steroids did wonders for my tennis elbow that I had going on at the same time

LinLui

khamzat93 said:

DullGreyGuy said:

I'm surprised you were signed off for 10 days for Bells Palsy, had the misfortune of having it last August and speaking/not dribbling was difficult but didnt even think of taking time off work... even went through 3 interviews (got the job) with it - A&E did tell me off for delaying going as obv symptoms aren't dissimilar to a stroke but interview was more important at the time. 

Any enhanced sick pay will come down to the terms and conditions of your employment, you should be able to check them in your contract or on the intranet/HR site. Given you had a fit note from a doctor saying you weren't fit to work then you will get Statutory Sick Pay as that isn't subject to company policy. 

Bells Palsy is pretty serious, didn’t even know what it was until I got it. I can’t close my eye, speak or eat properly at the moment. 

It’s the fact they’ve made a mistake and provided me with false information which has now put me in a very difficult situation as I have monthly outgoings, debts and other things I need to pay for. If I knew I wasn’t going to be paid, I would have told the doctor to allow me to work but on amended duties, my team leader knows this too but instead HR and my team leader both told me I’ll be paid in full, not to worry and just to rest. 

I'm sorry for your position,  but I don't agree. The sick pay policy is the policy. It applies to everyone. People can make mistakes,  but that does not mean you should be put in a better position than anyone else. It could equally be argued that you have a responsibility to know the terms of your own contract - you should know how many days out of your entitlement that you have used. And you can't just tell the doctor to allow you to work if you aren't fit to work,  and nor can you force the employer to agree to amended duties. If you aren't fit enough to do your job then you have a responsibility to yourself and your health to rest properly; and your employer is entitled to refuse to amend your duties. I agree that your condition can be serious - you can't have it both ways though and have a serious condition  but insist you work as normal because you can't afford to not be paid.  

As suggested by others,  you have a little full pay left,  and then you can claim SSP. It isn't great,  but you may be able to pause payments on debts,  and there may be other benefits you can claim. 

The bottom line is that you won't be paid sick pay because you have little entitlement left. And you can't change that. So instead of trying to argue what won't happen - you get more paid sick leave - focus on what advice may help you to manage what money you do have until you are fit enough to return to work. You won't help yourself trying to rush back into work before you are fit enough to return, and you could make yourself a lot worse by trying to do so. 

swingaloo

I understand they made  mistake but what difference doe it make? If they had not made the mistake they would just have been telling you that you are not entitled to sick pay so your situation would be the same. If the doctor thinks you should be off work then you will get statutory sick pay.

TELLIT01

A colleague of mine had a severe episode of Bells Palsy and was off work for several weeks.  Just because one person didn't have a case severe enough to be off work doesn't mean every other case is the same.