Sick pay

[Genesis]

Are there any legal requirements with regard to sick pay, or can firms and companies make their own decisions about whether they will or won't pay up?

The company my partner works for pay a monthly bonus to their staff. A third of that bonus is taken out their pay packets for each day they take sick. In addition, they also lose �50 from their regular standard wage for each day they are not in. Can this be right?

My partner's job involves driving and he has, on occasions, gone into work not really in a fit state for driving but has felt he has to because he doesn't want to lose the money. Surely the company's sick pay policy is forcing their staff into work and running the risk of accidents into the bargain.

Thank you, in advance, for any information you might have on this subject.

[dzug]

AFAIK the only legal requirement is that they must pay SSP (Statutory Sick Pay) as agents (effectively) of the government. Many firms do no more than this. Some would think him lucky that he still retains some of his pay if he's off sick.

[Genesis]

I might have been better to head this up as 'sick leave' as opposed to 'sick pay' - my issue is really the fact that money is deducted from the wages and I'm wondering if this is acceptable.

[Genesis]

Ooops!

[Genesis]

Thanks you two for your answers. (Apologies for the 'Ooops' post - I was in the process of explaining to dzug that I was adding my supplementary comments at the same time as he was answering my Q, but hit 'submit' too soon!)

I still can't get over the fact, however, that my partner can lose �100 just for being off sick for one day.

[jason1980]

He loses money because it's a company bonus. Bonuses aren't statutory but he would or should have been informed of such deductions in his contract of emplyment before he even went sick. Its unfortunate that you lose money for being sick but fortunate to have received such bonuses for all the periods he wasn't so maybe that makes up for it.

[Genesis]

Thank you Jason. I can see your point there. After 3 days sick, all his bonus would be lost. However, he also loses money from his regular wage. In fact, if he took a week off sick, he would lose more money than he actually earns!