Reasonable expectation for sick pay

almoststew1990

almoststew1990

almoststew1990

Soldato
Joined
12 May 2011
Posts
6,274
Location
Southampton
I'm currently sick with pulmonary embolisms in both lungs. I've been signed off work for 2 weeks plus a further 2 weeks, running out on Wednesday.

I work in the planning industry and have been with this company for 2.5 years. My contract says sick pay is discussed in the handbook. The handbook says sick pay beyond statutory is at the managers discretion.

I get on with my manager (we're a team of three, a junior guy, me, and then LM. But we link up with other offices regularly). I'm currently on full pay with LM and HR being nice with the "the important thing is you get better" lines. I keep in touch with my LM on WhatsApp every half week or so.

What is a reasonable expectation for how long I'll be granted being on full pay? I.e. Has anyone here been that kind of decision maker? What would you do in that position? It is likely I'll be signed off for a further 2 weeks at least due to lack of lung capacity making me very tired after an hour or two of doing things (which includes concentrating).

For context the planning industry is rather cool right now (although my impression was it was just starting to come out that dip when I left) but our team performs to budget mostly and are the teacher's/board's pet at the moment - if the decision is monetary/ performance based. I was up for promotion once the company got it's ship in order.
 
I worked for a large IT company for ages. I was off for 3 months with depression and I was on full pay the whole time. That was down to my manager so I'm guessing it really boils down to your manager. When I was in the position to make these sort of decisions I would keep people on full pay for as long as possible but then we floated on the stock market and money was everything so the decision making was taken away from us and good old HR took over. Things changed!
 
I would fully expect your manager to give you sick pay until you are better, whether it's 2 more weeks or 2 more months. If they didn't, I would start looking for a new job.

We get 26 weeks full pay then 26 half pay if needed and it's HR policy so nothing to do with any manager.
 
As long as you cover it with a sufficient doctors note I’d hope that 2 weeks extra would be fine.

I got a few months off with long COVID from my GP. That was with another 20 day spell off with COVID.
 
I came to the thread expecting it to be "I've been off for 7 months..." so 2 or 4 weeks is next to nothing. My company gives (at least) 6 months for any one sickness.
 
I hope you get better soon! Sounds nasty!

It will depend on multiple factors - previous absence record, departmental issues with sickness and how much the company can afford! But I would imagine you'll get a few months. Maybe discuss remote working options for times when you're feeling a bit better. But your handbook sounds like its setup so that they can be flexible for the right people and try and put pressure on the wrong uns.
 
As others already said, the unit of measurement should be months not weeks. I think @swillsy is spot on about the employee handbook though, it'll be deliberately vague to allow them to crack the whip on anyone obviously taking the wee.

Have you been given any indication how long recovery might take as the decent thing to do is keep your employer informed. The recommendation about WFH is a good one too. PE's aren't nice: its something my late father-in-law was prone to and they did take it out of him.

For full pay, I'd say 3 months is bare minimum, 6 is standard and anything above that getting to generous.
 
I had three months off last year with a broken leg and a collapsed lung caused by a pulmonary embolism. So I know what you're going through. I was on full pay but it was a large blue chip company (which made me redundant almost the day I returned back to work - still angry about that lol).

For a smaller company I would still expect them to cover at least a couple of months on full pay. I would advise keeping in touch with your company so they are aware of expected return dates and you don't get any surprises. I would also suggest a frank conversation with your doctor to find out how long they expect you to be off. They tend to issue repeated short sick notes so they can review you regularly. So have a discussion about how long they really do normally expect you to be off.

Good luck. It's not a nice thing to have.
 
Agree with the above. For such an illness, reasonable should be measured in months, not weeks.

One thought though - there's a couple of people above talking about WFH to manage times when you feel well enough to do a couple of hours work. But, as sensible as that is, I don't think it's compatible with sick leave - officially at least. I think if you're signed off sick, you are not allowed to work at all, even if you feel up to it temporarily.
 
Thanks for the input everyone. It sounds reasonable to expect another 2 to 4 weeks at least which would allow me to hopefully feel a fair bit better than right now. I've not had any previous sickness of more than a few days, maybe twice in the 2.5 years (one time COVID with the test to show it).
 
It depends on the mood music of the company. If they're off target and cost cutting then expect your manager to be told to deliver bad news. If its in budget and the team can pick up your slack, expect good news. It isn't their personal choice. They'll consult with HR/Finance business partners.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom