shaam

Hi guys

I wanted to know what are the laws in U.K regarding taking sick leaves?

A friend of mine who moved to U.K recently and works in a Telecom company fell sick for a couple of days, went to see the doctor but was not paid by the company for the day he took sick leave with doctor approval.

Is this legal and within the law ?

durham_lad

It depends if you qualify for sick leave

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

BritInParis

Depends what kind of employment contract he is on and whether there is a probationary period which would affect his sick pay.

SanDiegogirl

Hourly paid workers, zero contract workers, part time workers often are not paid for sick days or for holidays.

It all depends on what your employment situation provides for.

shaam

Hi

He works full time on a contract basis and have already pass his probation period

shaam

Hi

Works full time on contract and have passed probation

spouse of scouse

If your friend was only off work for 1 - 3 days the employer doesn't have an obligation to pay him sick leave, unless your friend's employment contract specifically states that he will be paid for such periods.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/wo...d-to-sick-pay/

shaam

Thank you for explaining !

It’s funny that they will not pay for 1-2 days but more than that they will pay 😂
Kinda making people take more than less isn’t it ...

spouse of scouse

You're very welcome.

Yes, it's quite different to where I'm from (Australia) but I guess all countries are different!

durham_lad

Not really, your friend’s employment contract probably states that one needs to have a doctor’s note if you are off sick for 4 days or more. No getting rat-a$$ed drunk one night and getting paid to have a day or 2 off to recover.

shaam

👍🏼👍🏼

True that

shaam

Agree, but in China they rather have you take 1 day off with doctor’s note than 4.

But the 4 days way is also good for those genuinely sick.

durham_lad

As mentioned above it all depends on the company, the 4 day rule is the minimum standard by law. When my wife and I worked in England we would be paid for all sick days, even 1 or 2 but if you were off longer than 3 days you needed a doctor’s note stating you were fit to return.

uk_grenada

In the uk, doctors dont issue sick notes any more at all unless your job and illness leads them to believe you are a risk to others.

You are supposed to self certify. Your company doesnt have to pay you anything unless your contract says they do. Typically contracts range from ‘we pay nothing if you dont work’ to ‘we dont really care about govt sickness payouts and will pay you normally so ling as you dont exceed x days per incident and y days per year so dont claim sick pay cause this is fraud’. However, take the pi.. and you will get sacked or not promoted etc, companies keep records, the bad thing to do is to repeatedly take a fewvdays off, theres an nhs scoring system in existance.

scot47

If you earn over £112 per week and are incapable of working for more than four days in a row, you are entitled to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) of £88.45 per week from the fourth working day on which you are unable to attend work. This is the minimum legal amount your employer must pay you for up to 28 weeks of sick leave.17 Sep 2015