In what circumstances can an employee claim statutory sick pay?
Are employers obliged to top up statutory sick pay to an employee's normal earnings?
Is there an upper age limit on statutory sick pay?
Are employees employed on a contract lasting less than three months still denied certain rights?
What are the potential problem areas of offering benefits to employees in the event of sickness absence?
If an employee has been signed off work by his or her doctor for a particular period can the employer allow the employee to return before the end of that period?
Where an employee who has exhausted all entitlement to sick pay is to be dismissed on grounds of ill health will he or she be entitled to any payment throughout his or her notice period?
Where an employee in the early stages of pregnancy is taking regular time off sick how should the employer handle the situation?
Where a pregnant employee who is off sick with a pregnancy-related illness has used up her company sick pay entitlement is there any obligation on the employer to pay her at her normal rate of pay?
Can an employee's car allowance be withdrawn while he or she is on long-term sick leave?
Where an employee has asked for a phased return from long-term sickness absence, can the employer decrease his or her pay to reflect the reduced hours being worked?
Offering part-time hours to an employee who previously worked
full time in order to facilitate a return to work after a period of long-term
sickness absence can often be a positive and appropriate course of action. It
enables the employee to ease back into work gently and may greatly assist him
or her in making the transition back into normal working.
Contractually, there will be no obligation on the employer to
continue full-time pay if the job is being done part time. Pay may therefore be
reduced proportionately in accordance with the reduction in the employee's
working hours. The issue will be whether the employee is prepared to agree to
accept the change to his or her hours of work and rate of pay, whether on a
temporary or a permanent basis. If the employee is agreeable to this, then the employer
should ensure that the agreement is put in writing and signed before the
employee returns to work. A unilateral change to the employee's working hours
and/or pay without agreement would constitute a fundamental breach of contract,
entitling the employee to take legal action against the employer.
Under the Part-Time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable
Treatment) Regulations 2000 (SI 2000/1551), where a full-time employee returns to work part
time after a period of absence of less than 12 months, he or she is entitled to
the same pay and benefits that applied to his or her full-time job on a pro
rata basis. This means that, apart from making pro rata reductions in
accordance with the number of hours worked, the employer may not change the
employee's pay or other contractual benefits to his or her detriment just
because the employee is now working part time.
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Would an employer be at risk if it terminated the contract of an employee on long-term sickness absence before the employee's entitlement to contractual sick pay had been exhausted?
If an employee's sickness absence is due to a workplace accident, should he or she be paid in full where there is normally no provision for full sick pay?
Can an employer withhold occupational or statutory sick pay from an employee who is frequently absent from work due to sports injuries?
Can an employee who is expected to have a long period of sickness absence due to injury sustained during participation in a dangerous sporting activity be dismissed earlier than would normally be the case?
Where an employer wishes to reward employees for low sickness absence, what factors must it take into account?
If an employee works part of the day before going home sick, should this day count as sickness absence?
If an employee goes abroad for treatment will he or she still be entitled to receive statutory sick pay?
If an employee fails to return from a holiday abroad and claims that this is due to illness, must the employer treat a medical certificate sent from another country as evidence of incapacity?
Where an employer has reason to believe that an employee absent on sick leave is working elsewhere can it arrange for covert surveillance?