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If you have been injured at work and the accident or
injury occurred whilst performing your working duties,
you might expect fair treatment from your employer
should you undergo an enforced period of absence.
Sadly this does not always happen and in our
experience it is more common for an employer to take a
hard-line stance with an employee, particularly
regarding sick pay. One of the most common reasons why
injured employees decide to make a claim is because they
do not receive any wages during an enforced absence. So
what are your rights in this situation? Your rights to
sick pay depend very much on the specific wording of
your contract of employment.
Some employers will pay "Occupational Sick Pay" as
part of their contract which (usually) will entitle the
injured party to full or partial pay during an enforced
absence. In many cases such contracts do not apply and
employers will simply meet their minimum requirements to
pay Statutory Sick Pay only.
There is no absolute right to full pay whilst you are
absent through work related injury. This applies whether
the injury was self induced or as a result of negligence
on the part of the employer. The only way to be
certain you will recover all of your losses including
earnings or overtime - is to make a personal injury
claim by instructing a "no win no fee" lawyer.
More about sick pay:
Occupational Sick Pay
This is paid by employers who are contractually
obliged to pay the salary (usually in full) of any
person absent from work through injury or illness.
There is however usually a heavy element of discretion
and the employer has control over what amounts are paid
and for how long. This benefit will normally apply
only after a person has been employed for a fixed period
of time. Each set of rules can be different from one
employer to another.
SSP - Statutory Sick Pay
Most workers are entitled to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)
if their employer does not provide occupational sick
pay, either at all or, for example, in their first
period of service. But SSP is based on a number of
rules, including:
You must be off sick for four or more
consecutive days including weekends.
But payment of SSP
can only be made for each "qualifying" day. In other
words each day that you would normally be expected to
work anyway.
SSP is not paid for the first three
qualifying days in any period of incapacity for work.
You must earn more than what is called the Lower
Earnings Limit (LEL) for National Insurance
Contributions (NICs).
If your average earnings before
deductions such as tax and National Insurance (NI) are
£79.00 a week or more, the SSP rate is £63.25 a week.
Part-time workers are entitled to SSP. Short term
contract employees may not be entitled to SSP. You must
be under the age of 65 and over the age of 16. You must
show your employer some evidence that you are sick. A
“self-certification” is usually sufficient but the
employer is entitled to some evidence that you were
absent for appropriate reasons.
This is probably the
best site around for info about SSP
To make a written enquiry - just complete the
brief form opposite. Our team will respond to all
written enquiries within 1 hour 8am-8pm. OR CALL 0800
0322210
Will you be sacked if you make a claim?
This is a crucial question for most claimants. Most
people believe that if they have been injured at work
and decide to make a claim, that they will be penalised
for doing so by their employer and possibly fired. If
you have been employed for less than 12 months then you
have very few employment rights in the UK. However the
employer would be open to severe criticism if they
dismissed a member of staff following an injury. The
accident causing the injury may well have involved
breaches of health & safety.
Such dismissals are always questionable and legal
action may be possible against the employer (ie
involving an
Employment Tribunal)
If you have been employed for over 12 months you are
very well protected against unfair dismissal. That does
not say that an unscrupulous employer will not act
against you. Only the claimant can decide whether it
is right that they claim and whether they are happy with
the slight risk that the employer may at some point
discipline them.
For immediate accident claim assistance please
telephone our FREEPHONE ACCIDENT AT WORK CLAIM helpline
on 0800 0322210
We also deal with the following types of claim:
Car accident claims including:
Whiplash personal injury claims -
Trip, slip, fall accident claims -
Criminal
injury claims following an assault.
NHS hospital or GP Negligence claims - we are one of
few online specialists in medical or clinical negligence
claims.
The Claims Connection accident at work section - UK
Accident claim and personal injury compensation.
involving equipment -
unsafe work premises -
accidents with scaffolding or ladders -
inadequate training -
accidents at work Leeds -
report an accident -
midlands claims -
Liverpool -
industrial injuries -
work injury -
manual handling operations -
factory personal injury -
solicitor helpline -
warehouse accident -
accident at work manchester -
wales -
slipping accidents at work - travel
claims -
back injury at work
More Links:
safety in the workplace -
workplace law
-
British accident at work website -
health & safety gov
-
criminal injuries claim -
US legal
information institute -
PUWER
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