No pay for sick days?

LegacyUser

Hi, I've just started a new job with a small community organisation and, after reviewing my probationary contract (already signed) I've realised that I am entitled to no paid sick days.

It states that I have to contact the manager in the event of absence from work (fair enough) and a medical cert must be submitted to manager after three days absence and weekly thereafter. (also fair enough)

The contract goes on to say, "the organisation will not make any payment for any day that you do not attend for work."

I suppose I just want to know if this fairly common now? Any job I've held previously has always had a defined number of uncertified paid sick days and certified paid sick days.

It's not something that I have ever unfairly taken advantage of, the few sick days I have taken have always been genuine and mostly certified.

I am currently bringing home less money than I was when on jobseekers (once tax, costs of childcare & commute is counted) and I will have to go to work no matter how ill I am as I cannot afford not to get paid.

Plus, it somewhat galls me that the organisation I work for runs a CE scheme and the CE participants are paid only a little less than me, and have a much more favourable contract as regards sick leave (certified, anyway).

If this is something you would think uncommon or somewhat unfair - should I raise the issue once I am finished my probationary period and on a permanent contract?

_Brian

1234erty wrote: »

Hi, I've just started a new job with a small community organisation and, after reviewing my probationary contract (already signed) I've realised that I am entitled to no paid sick days.

It states that I have to contact the manager in the event of absence from work (fair enough) and a medical cert must be submitted to manager after three days absence and weekly thereafter. (also fair enough)

The contract goes on to say, "the organisation will not make any payment for any day that you do not attend for work."

I suppose I just want to know if this fairly common now? Any job I've held previously has always had a defined number of uncertified paid sick days and certified paid sick days.

It's not something that I have ever unfairly taken advantage of, the few sick days I have taken have always been genuine and mostly certified.

I am currently bringing home less money than I was when on jobseekers (once tax, costs of childcare & commute is counted) and I will have to go to work no matter how ill I am as I cannot afford not to get paid.

Plus, it somewhat galls me that the organisation I work for runs a CE scheme and the CE participants are paid only a little less than me, and have a much more favourable contract as regards sick leave (certified, anyway).

If this is something you would think uncommon or somewhat unfair - should I raise the issue once I am finished my probationary period and on a permanent contract?

Paid sick leave is not essential, its at the discretion of the employer..
I think you'll find that raising it now or later is pointless and its best to read all details of your contract before signing.
When you say they "run a CE scheme" what do you mean...
My understanding is that CE should only complete work for a "not for profit" organisation.

tenifan

1234erty wrote: »

I am currently bringing home less money than I was when on jobseekers (once tax, costs of childcare & commute is counted) and I will have to go to work no matter how ill I am as I cannot afford not to get paid.

Your employer offered you a job and you accepted it.

The contract doesn't include sick-pay, however does it include more than the statutory amount of annual leave? Is it a decent salary for the work you do, or why do you feel you deserve more (pay or sick leave, same thing)?

Bear in mind in mind the following are outside of your employers control:

Tax. Does your spouse use your tax credits? Transfer them back to yourself to get a fairer view of your pay.
Childcare. It's not your employer's fault you have kids and your spouse/partner does not take care of them full-time.
Commute. It's not your employers fault you live so far from work that you have a considerable commuting expense. Move closer!

After your probation period, you may wish to talk to your employer about your pay or terms if they are particularly unfair. Personally, I'd prefer more money than sick pay.

In my current job I didn't get paid any sick days during probation. For the next 2 years, I get 5 days per year and 3 of them must be certified. Guess what, I have 20 days annual leave. so 25 days including sick leave. Oh, and my commuting cost is over €100 a week, after tax. It's crap but I chose the job because the salary makes up for it, and despite the cost I don't be stuck in traffic so it's worth paying extra to save time commuting.

pow wow

1234erty wrote: »

Hi, I've just started a new job with a small community organisation...

...which is most likely underfunded and is simply not in a position to be able to pay staff when they are out sick. I worked for one years ago and it was the same, there was also no maternity pay (outside of statutory entitlements) and if I needed/wanted to do a training course I used to pay for it myself. The reality of the community sector, for the most part, is that it's underfunded and whilst it can afford to be kind to employees in some ways, it can't usually stretch beyond its means in money terms.

If you were off sick for more than a few days you would be entitled to claim Illness Benefit assuming you met the qualifying criteria.

Stheno

It's quite normal not to get paid sick days in jobs.

Chattastrophe!

Why would you be paid for work on days that you are not present to do said work?

Sick pay is an excellent bonus, but not one to be automatically expected. Especially in a new job! (Usually - if it exists - it'll only kick in after probation expires.)

Mrs OBumble

Sick leave is permission to not attend work at short notice and without prior approval, due to being sick. If you do not attend under those conditions and you're not sick, that's called abandonment of employment, and you will find yourself fired pretty quickly.

Most small organisations in Ireland do not offer paid sick leave, because there's no law requiring it.

This wasn't so bad when the stand-down for Illness Benefit was only 3 days. Now that it's 6, it's hurting low-paid workers a lot more. It's just possible that the politicians who approved this change actually didn't realise the sheer number of workers who do not get any paid sick leave.

And I agree that it's particularly galling that CE workers do get paid sick leave, but the employees supervising them don't.

If you think the situation is mad, then I'd suggest approaching your TD rather than your employer. At least while you're on probation. And if you didn't read the contract and factor in the need cover costs of your own sick-pay from your salary when you took then job, then you probably need to look for a better paying job elsewhere.

And my standard advice to pretty much anyone is that the benefit system in Ireland is extremely slow: you should always have enough money on call in the bank to cover your living expenses for a number of weeks, in case you get sick and cannot work.