Occupational Sick Pay

We’re 6 months full, 6 months half too. 5 days makes me wonder how much they value their workforce

Yeah, I'm not planning on getting sick but 5 days sets alarm bells ringing.

5 days? Not a chance I'd be moving there.

We’re also 6 months full then 6 months half, local council.
Which is great under genuine illness but some people really know how to take the piss.

Its one of the good things about public service. 6 months full six months half ( usually with qualifying periods to build up to that) IIRC the NHS its takes some time now with new contracts to build up to that

Public sector terms and conditions are usually worth 10 - 20% on top of your basic pay

5 days especially in a senior role is utter rubbish

5 days is rubbish in any role, any ill employee will be worrying about bills which isn't going to help recovery. Think we're 6 months followed by 6, might be 3 / 3, not sure but there is also a lot of flexibility with that as well.

If managers are worried about staff abusing sick pay they need to do what they are paid to do and manage the situation, not just tar everyone with the same brush. 5 days would worry me about their general approach to their staff.

New job offer is 5 days!

7 weeks on the sick here due to cancer, and only got 5 days! Might be 10-12 weeks before I can return to work too due to complications.

Wish I'd read my contract a bit more tightly when I joined... Would still have taken the job, but would have made a little more preparation should this happen!

Currently staring down the barrel of selling off assets to be able to pay the bills, simply because I have had cancer!

@mboy really sorry to hear that. Sounds like crap luck layered on crap luck.

New job offer is 5 days!

Walk away

Its this kinda thing which will make a material difference if you ever become seriously ill and need support from your employer.
Its basically something that they should never have to pay, but in a few years you discover you have cancer, they're basically turning their back on you.

"Thanks for you 10 years of service, but now you're unwell, you're on your own"

15 days here as I am on an old contract. Newer colleagues Ts +Cs get 25 days (but not paid for first 3 days)

We’re also 6 months full then 6 months half, local council.
Which is great under genuine illness but some people really know how to take the piss.

Yeah. I worked somewhere which had 6 months full, 6 months half. It was remarkable how some unfortunates were totally unable to work at all for 6 months but then made a full recovery at 6 months and 1 day when they would have had to go on half pay. And it was just sat-on-yer-arse office work.

Old 'profession' was ambiguous based on line managers discretion. I was under pressure to return to work or 'not get paid' (or maybe get fired) after three weeks, despite only having had about 5 days off sick in the previous 10+ years.

New 'McJob' was 2 weeks on full pay, then SSP until week 26 when an insurance policy that they have on your behalf kicks in and pays you 50% for up to 3 years.

This has made me re-evaluate things a bit, especially when you read things like @mboy 's back story.

As a welder I get 3 days unpaid, then statutory sick pay after that (under £100 a week last time I was off, for 3 months with a broken ankle)

I must admit that I’m fortunate in this regard. 6 months full pay and then onto an insurance policy that pays 80%(ish)for the one day a week I’m off sick. There are many problems with the company I work for but credit where it is due they have been great with me when it comes to managing my illness.

SSP in first 12 weeks of employment; 6 weeks full pay + 6 weeks half pay after that. That, however, is open to line manager extensions on both full and half pay, based on individual circumstances. As an example, I was off for 7 weeks at full pay, then returned on reduced hours (3 days per week for a full month) but still on full pay, before returning full time.

I've gone from 6 months to managers discretion. It definitely came up when thinking about the job. Wife and I are in a position where we can live on one salary fine but it would mean some big changes.

There was a bit of a heated debate in the company during COVID I gather as to whether people should come in and get payed or stay at home and not. It's a stupid policy encouraging people to come in and spread illness and cruel to those who get seriously ill. They're American.

Have people taken out their own insurance to cover essential bills and mortgage payments. SSP wouldn't cover it.

6 months full, 6 months 2/3rds here (with a option to increase that to 75% by paying £25 a month into an income protection plan)

So, follow on question.

Everything else is looking good and this is the only sticking point. Can anyone recommend a personal policy to fill the gap, just for piece of mind?

stick 10% of your wages into a easily accessible savings fund?

Everything else is looking good and this is the only sticking point. Can anyone recommend a personal policy to fill the gap, just for piece of mind?

I'd double check exactly what the policy is, five days sounds incredibly short. I'm not saying that you are misunderstanding it, but it does sound like the kind of thing that could be down to more explanation/communication (it might, for example, be five days paid sickness before a doctor's note is needed, or something)

Can anyone recommend a personal policy to fill the gap, just for piece of mind?

Critical Illness policies will pay a lump sum on the diagnosis of a critical illness.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/insurance/insurance/what-critical-illness-insurance-is/

Income protection will pay out a regular amount if you're unable to work, after a given period of time. It's generally a %age of your full salary, the greater that %age and the shorter the time period before it pays out, the higher the premium

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/insurance/insurance/income-protection-insurance/

Neither are cheap.

Multi national company here and the employee handbook states the minimum but I can count on one hand the number of times the rule has been stuck to in over twenty years and that is because the employees were taking the piss. So sound them out it might just be there as a backstop to protect the company but you only have their word for it I suppose.

Mboy really sorry to hear about your position. we have had people in your situation off for a year on full pay so despite the letter of the law you have to look after people when they need help.

6 months full, 6 half. My son's SSP only - work wouldn't let him in with Covid, so he's £800 short this month !

I'd look for more sick pay - you just never know. Never been off much but surgery knocked me back a couple of times - off a couple of months, and breaking my spine on the bike - I was off 7 months !! Would have been a disaster if I didn't have decent sick pay.

We have 5 days paid in case of 'regular' illnesses (so to speak), and a 'crashmat' policy to keep going at full pay in case of some sort of emergency but this is at the discretion of the Directors (who are themselves elected by the employees for 18 month stints, we're employee owned and it's a bit complex). Our ex-owner always had a 'keep the benefits' lean approach and we're still very much in that vein at the moment.

I've got an income protection policy with Aviva along with the whole life assurance thing in case something goes sideways.

Its not five days for the first year or something is it?

Some of the new (DWP) contracts I looked after a while ago were a sliding scale. The old people were on 6mth full/6mths half, but the newer contracts were something like 2weeks full per year served, up to a max of six months (don't quote me on the exact numbers).

We are 18weeks full 18 weeks 1/2 then ssp in a rolling 12 month period. To tot up the 18 weeks it clearly doesn’t have to be consecutive,

Helens place is 5 days full (0-5 years employment) 10 days full (5-10 years)

they are looking to adjust that with an employee insurance/healthcare plan to pay out after the 5 days.

might be worth digging into what employe benefits are on offer.

I'd advise to be careful, especially with 'our' sports (aka commute to work, ride some nice bike lanes, or have fun off road in mud) - people at work think it's an insane activity.

I did 2 months of driving a colleague to work and back after he busted a leg in some martial arts practice. He would have lost his job unless I got him there. It was an additional 20 miles a day for me, but he paid the extra fuel, but the time was an extra 45 minutes each way.

Any company that thinks so ;little of its staff that they only pay 5 days sick pay is not one I want to work for.  Are they american?  Unpaid overtime expected?

My son gets SSP only. He works for a big Utility company and is in IT infrastructure.

20 days full pay then on to SSP with a doctor's note required after 5 consecutive days. They are pretty flexible though; I got a lot of leeway around the time my dad died and the covid policy means that related time off is at full pay and doesn't count towards the Bradford score.

My first job, which I left in 2006 was statutory sick pay only.

My last employer gave 5 days paid, long term sick pay was at their discretion.

My new place is much better, 6 months I think.

I got my income protecion from LV on the advice of my mortgage advisor. They've treated me with nothing but respect and understanding, which is more than I can say for some of the management at my old employer. Can't remember what I was paying but suffice to say it was well worth it and is now paying me through retraining.

Have people taken out their own insurance to cover essential bills and mortgage payments. SSP wouldn’t cover it.

Couldn't get cover cos my GF had cancer 4yrs ago... She's 4yrs in remission, but all the policies we looked at personally wouldn't touch us until she was 5yrs clear...

And then I get it...

I'd say I'm more use dead, but got no f***ing life insurance either for above reason!

Currently sat at home, really quite angry with the increasing Americanisation of the world...

Any company that thinks so ;little of its staff that they only pay 5 days sick pay is not one I want to work for. Are they american? Unpaid overtime expected?

No to both. Sure our sick pay is not even in the same universe as the NHS (for example), but we reward our staff in other ways such as a transparent salary system that precludes epic gaps between the lowest and highest earners, and with guaranteed inflation linked rises every 6 months among other things.

For what it's worth as much as I support the NHS I'd hate to work there.

Just SSP.

Charity sector here. Just SSP.