Sick Leave has to come out of holiday leave?

G

G7979

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Hi all just looking for a nudge in the right direction here please. I have informed my employer I will be having an operation shortly and would be looking to take one weeks sick leave (wisdom teeth extraction, so I can plan dates etc) and I have been informed I must take the time out of my annual leave entitlement, is that right?
I am three years with the company and have never called in sick not even once to date, it seems a little unfair, other members of the staff have been given paid study leave on top of their holiday leave. Can anyone tell me where I stand on this? Also regarding pay, what are my entitlements for the weeks leave?
 
It all depends on the terms and conditions of your employment. The fact that other employees got paid study leave is irrelevant in this situation, if their T&Cs entitle them to do this

Employers are under no obligation to pay sick pay and if that is your companies policy then you probably have 2 options, either take the leave as unpaid sick leave(claiming whatever social welfare entitlements you are entitled to) or as your employer is suggesting, paid annual leave
 
there are no t & c's to refer to, no one has a contract, there are no handbooks to read, the employer seems to make it up as they go along, I just wondered if they can force me to take it out of my holiday leave, I had intended to provide a cert as being unfit for work and claim the social welfare entitlements, I also don't know if this is relevant but I have postponed the proceedure twice already at my employers request.

Just as an aside, its not a bad place to work, infact I have enjoyed working here so far, but I was a little surprised at my employer for the stand they took, the study leave for others was a non issue
 
ClubMan said:
In the absence of this being covered in the contract, employee handbook or by convention (i.e. what has happened before in similar circumstances) you are depending on your statutory rights here I'd assume:

CitizensInformation - Sick leave and sick pay
CitizensInformation - Types of leave from work

Maybe also try [broken link removed].
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Send the first link to your boss and refer to the last line.

If you go on holidays, get sun stroke, go to the doctor and have to spend 2 days in bed you can claim this as sick leave and get the holidays back.
 
Thanks everyone for the responses, that is what I suspected, if it is certified then it can't be annual leave, however if I take it out of my annual leave I will then receive full pay, maybe that is what my employer meant. I was a little surprised at the way it was presented to me, but maybe I picked it up wrong, as clubman mentioned,

"In the absence of this being covered in the contract, employee handbook or by convention (i.e. what has happened before in similar circumstances)"

There has always been a policy of sorts that if you needed leave it was given (as in the study leave I mentioned) without it necessarily affecting the holiday days you had available to you, there is some give and take here, we occasionally do overtime which we are not paid for, I feel a little aggrieved that others got additional paid leave but I am being denied it, but will take what I am entitled to I am not trying to be unreasonable just wondered where I stood
 
As mentioned elsewhere their is no statutory entitlement to paid sick leave. If your contract does not explicitly (in writing) or implicitly (through unwritten convention) provide for it then you can apply for SW payment for the time that you are off sick. If, by convention, some or all employess previously received paid sick leave then you too may have a legal entitlement to the same treatment. Probably best to just discuss this again with your employer to get the picture straight in case there has been some misunderstanding before citing/asserting (your) rights and (their possible) obligations.
 
G7979 said:
There isn't one I'm afraid
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You point out that there is nothing in your t&c's about sick leave ?

The 'Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994 and 2001 Act' specifies that
"One of the terms referred to in this Act on which the employer must provide information is the terms or conditions relating to incapacity for work due to sickness or injury."

Even if you are not entitled to sick pay, the t&c's must make this clear. The employer can't just make it up as they go along.
 
Sounds to me as if you are temping for an agency and not employed by the company, every company has a handbook to cover their behinds! When I was temping if you were sick you didn't get paid or you used it as a holiday and get paid.
 
Well any company I've worked for has put it that way, they are leaving themselves wide open if they don't ..
 
tink said:
Well any company I've worked for has put it that way, they are leaving themselves wide open if they don't ..
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So has any company that I have worked for, but I know quite a few that do not. I totally agree that they are leaving themselves open.
 
No company/employer has to pay sick leave, its up to discretion of company/employer, but should be stated in your contract, to which you are entitled.

If an employee is on hols, gets sick during, provides a sick certificate from doctor, then this period of time cannot be counted as days/weeks from your annual leave.
 
If an employer made you take holidays whilst sick, can you still claim illness benefit?
 
Thanks everyone, am reading up on this and will speak to my employer again,

tink - its not an agency, I am not temping, I am three years plus with this company, in a permanent full time position, I have never been given a contract, there are no policy documents in place that I am aware of,

Interesting comment from Bond - 007, I wonder would I be asked to hand over the cheque!!
 
you have 2 choices ,
1. get signed off sick and claim whatever benefits you are entitled to and recieve no pay from your employer

2.take the time off as holidays and recieve payment in full from your employer , but you cant claim sick benefits whilst on holidays.
 
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