Work and sickness

[Isntisironic1]

I’m not sure if this is the right place to ask this but I had been off sick for a while recovering from an op (and covid) I returned at the beginning of January and have been told today that I need to get my remaining holiday entitlement booked. I had it worked out as I had 30 hours left however I’ve realised that they’ve still used my holidays in December. I get paid full pay when off sick so I’m confused as to why they have used them. When I asked my manager she said ‘you don’t expect to be off sick and still get loads of holidays do you?’. I’m horrified. Am I being unreasonable?

Do you have an HR department? Or is this a small business?

If you were signed off (paid) sick when due to take AL , usually AL is overwritten. You need to read your work sickness policy

YANBU of course. I ask only to see where you should go next

Hang on, we’re you off on leave but became unwell whilst on annual leave? Or were you actually off sick?

In previous companies where I’ve worked if you have holiday booked but subsequently become ill during that period of time there is a form to complete to use sick vs leave

I work for a big company (can’t say too much without giving it away). If I go to hr I know she’ll throw a hissy fit about going behind her back 🙄

You can accrue holiday when off sick. Go to the ACAS website and print of the rules for your manager.,

Then don’t go behind her back. Say “In previous companies I’ve worked at sickness leave overrides annual leave. I’ll check with HR re the policy and let you know what they say.” If she throws a hissy fit also refer that to HR.

How long were you off for? Can that affect things?

@Merryoldgoat

Hang on, we’re you off on leave but became unwell whilst on annual leave? Or were you actually off sick?

So I had an operation, it’s something work have known that I needed for over a year. I got the call to say they had a cancellation and I could have the op in November (1 week before) I had to isolate so was told I could use holidays for the isolation and then use a sick note for recovery time. Unfortunately during recovery I caught covid and was very poorly. I had previously booked some time off for December (at the beginning of 2021).

@MichelleScarn

How long were you off for? Can that affect things?

I get paid full sick pay for 6 months and then they review

I work in HR and it really depends what the policy says. I’ve worked places where you can be off sick and on holiday at the same time and you would only get your holidays back if you got a letter in advance from your GP to state your sickness prevented you from going on holiday. Probably less relevant in covid times but this meant if people were off sick but had a holiday booked abroad and were well enough to go then they would use both sick leave and holidays simultaneously. It wasn’t common knowledge if you didn’t know the policy well so a lot of people felt it was unfair although from a business point of view it meant if people were off sick they didn’t then return to work with lots of holidays still to take.

@MyView2

I work in HR and it really depends what the policy says. I’ve worked places where you can be off sick and on holiday at the same time and you would only get your holidays back if you got a letter in advance from your GP to state your sickness prevented you from going on holiday. Probably less relevant in covid times but this meant if people were off sick but had a holiday booked abroad and were well enough to go then they would use both sick leave and holidays simultaneously. It wasn’t common knowledge if you didn’t know the policy well so a lot of people felt it was unfair although from a business point of view it meant if people were off sick they didn’t then return to work with lots of holidays still to take.

Sorry I should have been more clear. The time off wasn’t for a holiday as such just some time off to do some Christmas shopping etc

OK, YANBU

If you want to tread carefully with boss, I would ask her by email to double check as you really thought if you were sick whilst on annual leave, the annual leave was added back to your holiday entitlement. If they have claimed SSP for you for those days, they cannot legally say you were on AL.

If she persists, then go over her head - fuck her.

YANBU - you should accrue annual leave or maintain your entitlement throughout your period of sickness. You need to speak to your HR department if you have one, if you're working for a small business speak to ACAS.

Acas specifically states that an employer cannot force an employee to take annual leave whilst off sick.

www.acas.org.uk/checking-sick-pay/sick-pay-and-holiday-pay

YANBU
Maybe give her one more opportunity to reconsider then go to HR

I had a late notice operation that happened to coincide with a couple of random days of annual leave. When I got back to the office I read about the sickness over booked annual leave policy and I cancelled the annual leave on the system. Then I used it at a time convenient to me.

You can also take holiday if off sick, eg bank holidays wouldn’t always be “refunded”.