Hi Everyone
Can anyone help me with a concern I've got over sick pay during pregnancy? We have a member of staff who is in their 1st trimester of pregnancy and has been off work since the beginning of the year. Her medical certificate says early pregnancy as the reason she is unable to work. The same employee was also pregnant during early 2017 but unfortunately miscarried.
Whilst our policy is to pay full pay for the 10 days absence in a rolling 12 month period or 15 if you've worked over 5 years, as a gesture we paid her full pay during her absences. We have had unofficial word that she is not due to return to work soon and so I was wondering if we're under any obligation to continue paying full pay or it we can revert to paying SSP?
Any help appreciated!
Thanks
Emma
Replies
Hi Emma
Discretionary sick pay is exactly that at the Company's discretion that said all cases turn on their own facts. So factors to consider are how other non-pregnant employees have been treated with respect to discretionary sick pay.
You should ensure that the employee has fair notice that her pay will revert to SSP, and I would write to her along the lines that the discretionary period will end on date X and she will revert to SSP from date Y. You should also indicate that the discretionary sick pays also included her SSP entitlement, so the 28 weeks runs from the date you started paying sick pay (if you have not already done so).
As an aside I am sure you are also aware that if the employee is absent due to a pregnant related reasons 4 weeks prior to her due date, that this automatically triggers her maternity leave, but appreciate you are some way off this at the moment.
I hope this helps
Sarah
Hi Emma
We use this guidance
If your employee is not able to work because of pregnancy related illness she is entitled to be off work until she has recovered and is fit for work. No account must be taken of pregnancy related illness, for example, in disciplinary or redundancy decisions using sickness absence levels and it should be recorded separately from other sickness absences.
Our policy says this
If you are unable to come to work because of pregnancy related sickness at any time
before the 4th week before EWC, you will be treated like any other sick employee in
accordance with the Company’s policy on sickness.
In the 4 weeks before the birth, the Company reserves the right to trigger your
maternity leave and pay you SMP instead of sick pay.
If your sickness is unrelated to your pregnancy, you will continue to be covered
under the sick pay scheme until the date you should have started your maternity
leave or you give birth.
Maternity Leave is not treated as absence due to illness. Employees are not entitled
to receive sick pay, i.e. employees cannot be classed as off sick during Maternity
Leave.
I hope this helps.