Sick pay

BYTEr

BYTEr

BYTEr

Associate
Joined
2 Oct 2004
Posts
1,048
Hi all,

More of a rant, I currently work for a bus company providing a park and ride for a large construction site and I'm basically an administrator in the office. The staff members (around 30 of us) get no sick pay apart from the statutory sick pay of £89.35 per week which is only applicable after 3 days. The drivers (number around 200) however get £180 per week starting from the first day of sickness plus SSP.

So not only do the drivers have a much better deal, I'm forced to put up with sick staff members who cough, sneeze and all sorts in the office because they can't afford to take a day off, which increases my chances of catching something forcing me to take time off unpaid, or for only £89.35 a week. A staff member recently was advised by doctors to take 3 months off work as she was having serious back surgery, instead she came back after just 2 weeks barely able to walk and in constant pain because she couldn't afford to take any more time off.

Just seems wrong, but I guess, if they offered a decent sick pay scheme people would take the **** but on the other hand, if I'm genuinely ill, what do I do? take time off unpaid which I can't afford to do or come into work and potentially infect everyone else in the office? Surely it's better I take time off but the company basically force me to come in, I get slightly angry with staff members who come into work who are constantly sneezing, coughing etc thinking how selfish they are, but then I can't really blame them.

In my previous job, because I was technically working in a food manufacturing environment I had to take days off if I was ill and it was paid, you just had numerous forms to fill in etc and I think you had to have 3 separate cases of absence in a 12 week period before they'd even start any sort of investigation.

What are people's opinions on this?

Thanks.
 
All the signs of a crap company. Sadly they are giving you what they must do by law. The only solution is to work for a better company.
 
Hades said:
All the signs of a crap company. Sadly they are giving you what they must do by law. The only solution is to work for a better company.
Click to expand...

Oh I agree, that's our entire contract, the bare legal minimum, whilst drivers have things like sick pay, pay increases in line with inflation, more holiday etc, I did actually comment to the HR manager how crap our contract was compared to drivers and his response was none of the staff members were in the union, therefore he did not choose to consult with us and therefore admitted to giving us nothing.

I am currently looking for another job.
 
Our company gives full pay for 6 months then half pay. As soon as someone is unhappy because they've been asked to do something that is their actual job, off on the sick they go. But yeah, just find a new job, most likely you aren't also paid enough to actually have a decent amount of savings for if you were to become suddenly ill.
 
BYTEr said:
I'm forced to put up with sick staff members who cough, sneeze and all sorts in the office because they can't afford to take a day off, which increases my chances of catching something forcing me to take time off unpaid, or for only £89.35 a week. A staff member recently was advised by doctors to take 3 months off work as she was having serious back surgery, instead she came back after just 2 weeks barely able to walk and in constant pain because she couldn't afford to take any more time off.
Click to expand...

Well whoever is in charge of your office needs to get a grip and start sending people home. As for the person who was supposed to be off for 3 months - given she was off for more than 7 days she'd have needed a fit note from a doctor re: the sickness period she did take - so it is a bit dubious why a doctor would sign one saying she'd be OK after only 2 weeks.


Yes it would be nice if employers just paid your regular wages when you're sick, that's the arrangement I've always been employed under in the past. But the lack of sick pay shouldn't be an excuse for people not staying at home when they're supposed to.

BYTEr said:
I did actually comment to the HR manager how crap our contract was compared to drivers and his response was none of the staff members were in the union, therefore he did not choose to consult with us and therefore admitted to giving us nothing.
Click to expand...

That could be solved quite easily - get others in the office to sign up to the same transport union the drivers are in.
 
"Full sick pay is at management discretion otherwise SSP prevails" or something to that effect.

Take the **** and get SSP, in essence.
 
Personally it is very hard to judge what a company should give sick pay wise. I get 13 weeks full pay which is a lot considering I only work 26 weeks a year. Even though I do not many people do take the Mickey.
 
I feel for you OP, you work for a company that wants to do the bare minimum but also economics and the race to the bottom are a factor. There is no doubt that bus drivers are much harder to replace so they get additional benefits to keep them in the job.

If you don't like it, start looking for another job. It's a hard message but moaning about it online isn't going to change anything but getting a new job will. :)
 
Never taken a day off sick, however it grinds my gears to work for an employer that pays full pay and watch people abuse it because they had a heavy session on the weekend etc.
 
I've always worked in jobs where you get full pay for like 6 months. It probably does get abused from time to time, but that's the way of all things. At least it means people actually time off rather than making the rest of us ill.

I've not had a day off in like 2 years or something.
 
Participant said:
Is that because you never get sick, or because you never take sick days?
Click to expand...
Both? I get the odd cold but nothing serious that I feel I can’t go in. Just last week I slipped a disc in my lower back and still went to work whereas I know people that wouldn’t blink and take 4 weeks off on full pay.
 
EVH said:
Never taken a day off sick, however it grinds my gears to work for an employer that pays full pay and watch people abuse it because they had a heavy session on the weekend etc.
Click to expand...

I agree on that, but these days I'd expect most have pretty robust policies in place to deal with it, I know my place does. Most reports of people getting away with it is generally down to perception of what is going on. You don't normally see people waiving their written warnings down the office like a trophy. The reality no one really knows what goes on behind closed doors.

I get 6 months paid but the policy behind it is pretty robust against those that have short term absences but supports those who get a serious illness/injury.
 
EVH said:
Both? I get the odd cold but nothing serious that I feel I can’t go in. Just last week I slipped a disc in my lower back and still went to work whereas I know people that wouldn’t blink and take 4 weeks off on full pay.
Click to expand...
It can't be both, that's a logical fallacy; and 'both' isn't a question.

But moving on - I'm not sure going into the office with a cold is anything to be proud of.
 
Participant said:
But moving on - I'm not sure going into the office with a cold is anything to be proud of.
Click to expand...

There is a school of thought that if you don't mingle with other people then you actually lower the collective immunity of everyone thus actually leading to more illness. There is such a thing as being too clean.

I agree if you have a proper illness then no don't go to work. But a runny nose isn't a proper illness.
 
Participant said:
It can't be both, that's a logical fallacy; and 'both' isn't a question.

But moving on - I'm not sure going into the office with a cold is anything to be proud of.
Click to expand...
Well you asked if I ever got sick. I’d say sick is bed-ridden, incapable of doing my day-to-day role. You also asked if it’s because I never take days off... which I haven’t in the ~17 years of working, so I’d say my answer of both was correct.

Taking a day off because you’ve got a cold is nothing to be proud of. Unless you want me to take time off because other people have a terrible immune system?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom