Sick Pay Benefits
Statutory Sick Pay
For the period of absence, Statutory Sick Pay (up to a maximum of 28 weeks) will be included in your salary or wages except for the first three days of any unlinked Period of Incapacity for Work. Periods of Incapacity for Work are linked when they are separated by not more than eight weeks..
Transfer to National Insurance Sickness Benefit
Before the Period of Entitlement to Statutory Sick Pay ends, the Salaries/Wages Section of the Finance Office will complete Form SSP1(T) to show the last day of entitlement to SSP and the reason for transfer to the National Insurance Sickness Benefit Scheme. Any doctor's statement which extends beyond the Period of Entitlement will be attached to the SSP1(T) and either sent or handed to you. It will then be your responsibility to pursue your claim for state benefit by completing the relevant section of the Form SSP1(T) and sending it to the local DSS Office..
Payment of State Benefits
Where, following the issue of Form SSP1(E) or SSP1(T) by the Salaries/Wages Section of the Finance Office, you may be in receipt of Benefit from the DSS Office, this will be deducted from your salary or wages at the appropriate rate according to your circumstances (number of dependents etc ) except for the first three days in any unlinked Period of Incapacity for Work. The Department of Social Security will issue Form BS12 with the first postal draft, giving the amount of National Insurance Sickness Benefit payable. This Form must be sent to the Salaries/Wages Section of the Finance office as soon as possible.
If this form is not sent to the Finance Office then a deduction of at least £50 a week will be assumed and continued until it is produced.
Staff in Halls of Residence
Staff in Halls of Residence should submit all the documentation referred to above to the Hall Manager who will then forward them to the Finance Office.
Further Information and Guidance
Any member of staff requiring further information or guidance should contact the Salaries Section (monthly paid) on Extension 2033 or Wages Section (weekly paid) on Extension 2034.
University Sick Pay Scheme
The University Sick Pay Scheme covers employees who are absent from duty owing to certified illness, including industrial disease or accident. During their absence, employees shall receive not more than the normal weekly pay by way of:
- payments arising from Statutory Sick Pay during twenty-eight weeks of absence in any tax year
- payments arising from State sickness benefits after twenty-eight weeks of absence
- allowances provided by the scheme
Conditions of Admission to the Scheme
If requested by the University, an employee shall give details of any past or current illness and undergo a medical examination at the University's expense as a precondition of admission to the Scheme.
Part Time employees are eligible to qualify for sick pay, provided the other conditions specified above are fulfilled. However, part-time employees who are eligible to qualify for sick pay but who do not make national insurance contributions because their earnings are under the Minimum Earnings Level shall be entitled to half-pay in accordance with the Scale of Allowances listed overleaf.
Employees on fixed term appointments not exceeding six months duration are not eligible for membership of the University Sick Pay Scheme.
Where an employee is not eligible for membership of the scheme on medical grounds or lack of service, and is absent due to industrial disease or accident associated with employment at the University, the employee shall be entitled to an allowance based on an assumed three months' service, or, if the actual service is longer, as if the employee had been admitted to the scheme on the date of appointment.
Exclusion from Benefit
Employees are excluded from the scheme where their absence on the grounds of sickness is due to, or attributable to, their own misconduct or an injury whilst working in his/her own time on his/her own account or for another employer for private gain. An employee is not entitled to an allowance under the scheme, except at the discretion of the University.
Requirement to Submit to Medical Examination
An employee shall, if required by the University, during any period of prolonged absence or frequent absences, undergo a medical examination by a registered medical practitioner nominated by the University. In the event of a difference in medical opinion as to the employee's fitness for work, the matter shall, at the request of the University or of the employee, be submitted to an independent medical referee chosen jointly. If the referee determines that the employee is fit to resume work, the allowance under the Scheme ceases with effect from the date on which the referee determines the employee should return to work.
The University has standardised on a five day week on Monday to Friday inclusive in identifying Qualifying Days for the purpose of the Statutory Sick Pay Scheme. The Qualifying Days for part-time staff will also relate to a five day week of Monday to Friday inclusive unless otherwise stated in the official letter of appointment.
Scale of Allowances
Within any span of 12 months, payment of allowance is for the following periods according to the length of continuous service except for those whose earnings are below the NI lower earnings limit (see below):
| Full Pay | Half Pay | |
|---|---|---|
| During the first 3 months' service | 2 weeks | 2 weeks |
| Three months to one year | 2 months | 2 months |
| Second and third year | 3 months | 3 months |
| Fourth and fifth year | 5 months | 5 months |
| After five years' service | 6 months | 6 months |
provided that the University may, at its discretion, extend the period of allowance in an individual case if the circumstances so justify.
For employees whose normal weekly earnings are under the lower earnings limit for making National Insurance contributions the full pay period will be treated as a half pay period with no deductions made. This would mean that within any span of 12 months, payment allowance is for the following periods according to length of service:
| Full Pay | Half Pay | |
| During the first 3 months' service | 0 weeks | 4 weeks |
| Three months to one year | 0 months | 4 months |
| Second and third year | 0 months | 6 months |
| Fourth and fifth year | 0 months | 10 months |
| After five years' service | 0 months | 12 months |
provided that the University may, at its discretion, extend the period of allowance in an individual case if the circumstances so justify.
Calculation of period of allowance
The period during which the allowance is paid is calculated by deducting from the employee's entitlement any period, or the aggregate of periods, of paid absence on sick leave during the 12 months immediately preceding the first day of absence.
The full pay allowance is the amount which when added to:
- payments arising from Statutory Sick Pay during the first twenty-eight weeks of absence;
- payments arising from State sickness benefits after the first twenty-eight weeks of absence;
- compensation payments under the Workmen's Compensation Acts and/or the Employers' Liability Acts;
- any payments under any Acts amending, altering or affecting those Acts or at Common Law
is the equivalent of the employee's normal weekly earnings. No deductions are taken from the half pay allowance, except to the extent to which the allowance, including the benefits listed above, exceeds the full normal weekly earnings.
Normal weekly earnings for purposes of calculating sick pay
The normal weekly earnings for the purposes of sick pay are the normal weekly wage plus enhanced payment for unsocial hours, shift supplements, overtime and other allowances regularly paid as an addition to basic wages. Where earnings for a normal working week vary from week to week or from one part of the year to another then the calculation is based on average earnings over whatever period is necessary to cover the variations..
National Insurance Benefit and Statutory Sick Pay
The National Insurance Benefit or Statutory Sick Pay which is to be taken into account for the calculation of the allowance is the full payment to which an employee is entitled on the basis that the employee has satisfied, so far as possible, the contribution conditions and, so far as the employee is required by the University to do so, the conditions for the reporting of sickness and the claiming of benefit under the National Insurance Acts and/or the Social Security and Housing Benefits Act 1982. When the 28 weeks of absence under SSP has expired, make up of pay will be on the basis that the employee is receiving full state benefits and that the employee is obliged to declare any alterations in his/her circumstances which might affect these entitlements.
Widows and married women exercising their right to be exempted from the payment of full National Insurance Contributions are deemed to be insured in their own right and to be receiving full benefits.
Sickness during annual holidays
An employee who falls sick during the course of annual leave is regarded as being on sick leave from the date specified on a doctor's certificate, and is entitled to take the balance of holiday at a later date after returning to work, provided the balance of holiday is taken before the end of the leave year, or such longer period as may be agreed by the University.
Accident - third party claim
An employee who is absent as a result of an accident is not entitled to an allowance if damages may be receivable from a third party. In this event, the university may, having regard to the circumstances of the case, advance to the employee a sum not exceeding the allowance provided under this scheme, subject to the employee undertaking to refund from any damages received, the total amount of such allowance or such part thereof as the university may, having regard to the amount of damages recovered, determine after consultation with the employee or his/her representative.
Version V260907