Staturory Sick Pay

[Wethers82]

Hi all,

 

I am having some work-related problems in regards to illness and urgently need some advice/help.

 

I have worked in my new job for 5months and this involves driving 150+miles from Yorkshire to North London every Sunday, working down there during the week and not setting off home until late Friday afternoon. I accepted the job as I needed a new job and was of the belief that the company would show courtesy towards me by relaxing my hours considering the large amount of travel I do. I am contracted mon-fri 9am-5pm (with the willingness to work outside these hours occasionally should the company require) however I clearly am working outside of these hours every week. I've made my manager aware that I'm struggling with not getting a full weekend in a subtle manner, however I've avoided talking about my contracted times to avoid confrontation.

 

Recently I've started to be (in my own opinion) scrutinised for things I have done incorrectly. Although I am not by any means blameless, these errors were made due to struggling with my role. Working away from home in my particular role, means that's the daily requires tasks are not as simple to carry out. I'm the only one in this job that is required to stay away during the week.

During the tough times and having to live in a hotel miles away from home, I've become aware of my health beginning to deteriorate. I am suffering from;

- poor concentration levels

- heavy fatigue

- bouts of depression

- heavy breathing (when discussing work)

 

After visiting the Doctor I've been diagnosed as having Stress.

 

Please allow me to point out just for clarification; I'm not one to take advantage of any opportunity to use sickness as an excuse for time off, nor am I doing so on this occasion. In fact, I've felt like this for quite a few weeks and have avoided seeing a Doctor or taking sick leave. This is something I'm very particular about.

 

This weekend my family told me that they were concerned and they want me to go to the Doctor. Being at the end of my tether with feeling like garbage, I went to the Doctors and was issued with a sick not authorising me with two weeks off of work.

In a conversation with my manager I was made aware that I am not eligible for Staturory Sick Pay as I've not worked a full 6 months yet. (I've checked my contract - this is correct).

This is a big concern for me as I can't afford to miss out on my wages, however if I go back to work I'm in risk of further damaging my health or (in my Doctors words) a meltdown.

 

I'm currently stuck between a rock and a hard place. I'm now feeling like garbage again because I'm worrying about money. I'm also concerned that if I am eligible for benefits, they are likely to be a tiny percentage of my current wage and not enough to cover my outgoings.

 

Any help or assistance you can offer me would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance.

[Nystagmite]

Sorry to hear this. Depending on your situation, you may get ESA.

 

Have you spoke to your manager about making reasonable adjustments in order to make things easier for you?

[honeybee13]

Hello there.

 

Are you sure it's SSP [statutory Sick Pay] you're not eligible for? I thought entitlement started after 4 days. Here's a link.

 

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

 

I can see that company sick pay could have rules that make you wait until it's paid.

 

I hope that helps a bit.

 

My best, HB

[Wethers82]

Not yet. I'm a little apprehensive after discussing another issue with her a week ago, she reacted quite defensively.

She has referred my case to the company nurse whom she says will work with me regarding adjustments. Given my managers stance on my situation when I briefly approached it a few weeks back, I fear that she will refuse to allow me any flexibility in start/finish times.

[Wethers82]

Honeybee - yes they have something written in the contract that says they don't pay anything wages or SSP if you've not physically worked for full six months or more. :/

[honeybee13]

Thank you for that.

 

I'm going to try your thread in the employment forum as you seem to be asking more about that than benefit matters. I'll leave you a short term redirect to follow from this forum to the new one.

 

HB

[Emmzzi]

personally I believe your employer is talking rubbish, see guidelines here

 

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

[honeybee13]

I agree with you, Emmzzi.

 

HB

[Wethers82]

It's written in my contract though

[honeybee13]

It's written in my contract though

 

Can you type up exactly what your contract says about SSP, please? That could help us to advise you.

 

HB

[Wethers82]

Sure, please see attached (thought this would be better than writing out word for word)

[ATTACH=CONFIG]48009[/ATTACH]

Edited December 3, 2013 by Wethers82

[honeybee13]

Thank you for that.

 

I'm not one of the experts here, but that reads more like company sick pay or an insurance policy to me. Is there anything that refers to SSP please?

 

HB

[Wethers82]

Sorry if I seem a little slow here- but is company sick pay different to SSP?

[honeybee13]

I thought it was, yes. My understanding is that the minimum you can receive is the SSP amount, but hopefully some of the forum guys will confirm for you.

 

HB

[honeybee13]

This is from the link I posted higher up the thread.

 

You can get £86.70 per week Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) if you’re too ill to work. It’s paid by your employer for up to 28 weeks.

You need to qualify for SSP and have been off work sick for 4 or more days in a row (including non-working days).

You can’t get less than the statutory amount. You can get more if your company has a sick pay scheme (or ‘occupational scheme’) - check your employment contract.

 

HB

[Emmzzi]

SSP and company sick pay are different, yes

[Wethers82]

Thanks for your help, much appreciated!

 

The SSP is a lot less than my normal weekly wage but I kind of expected that. I'll check in my benefits/insurance details and see if there's anything in there that covers me.

 

How do I claim he SSP?

[Wethers82]

Do I fill in a SSP and send it to my employers?