To think 10 days paid sick leave a year is not very much?

[patandjess]

I’ve been offered a job that gives 10 days paid sick leave a year, then after that you’re on statutory sick pay (£109 a week as far as I can tell).

It’s a senior role in a creative industry.

Is this usual? I’ve been self-employed for a long time so forgive my ignorance. What happens if someone gets a serious illness or is signed off with e.g. stress? Do they have to live on £109 a week?

I had Covid at the beginning of the year and was ill for over a week, so that would have been about 6 days. Then a few other illnesses dotted throughout the year and there goes your 10 days.

Curious to know what other workplaces offer and whether this is usual or not.

It is entirely normal, and what is in most precedent employment contracts lawyers start with as a draft. It doesn’t usually mean it is all you’ll get as often there is a discretion to pay more. Some companies are more generous but 6 months full pay outside the public sector has been being phased out over as many years as the question has been asked.

This seems to really vary from company to company and industry to industry. Everywhere I've worked for the last 30 years (tech, UK) has been in the area of 6 months sick pay, but I believe more and more companies are offering less. It's definitely one thing I'd be asking about if I went for an interview, although it's quite a difficult question to ask without sounding like you're planning on being sick!

Mine isn’t public sector.

10 days is generous for private sector.
6 months full, 6 months half is mostly reserved for public sector.
Lots of companies in the private sector give nothing.

DH gets a week, increasing by 2 days for every year of service (started at 3 days), but he WFH with very very flexible hours so could easily work from his bed with covid/food poisoning/etc. We do worry about what would happen if he needed long-term time off sick, though, so we are saving for a 3-6 month buffer (of essential expenses). I'm self employed so we're already a bit vulnerable from that.

I work in a senior role and would find it very strange that they stipulate this, as you say, life happens and sometimes you need sick pay

I'm private sector. It used to be 6 months full pay, 6 months half but it was changed quite a few years ago. Now it's 3 months full, 3 months 75%, then SMP. But our company also pays for income protection insurance for us that, if you qualify, will pay 60% for up to 5 years.

I think 10 days is pretty poor tbh.

It’s terrible.
Sick pay is not an issue for the odd day off here and there. 10 days appears generous if so.
But what happens if you are really really ill? Invasive treatments, operations, mental health breakdown - the last thing you want to be worried about is money.
Sick pay is a safety net in very bad times.

Same here. I'd not be happy with 10 days even though most years I don't use any sick leave.

That’s terrible. I get 6 months full, 6 months half pay. University.

usually I’m off 2-3 days a year max, but twice I’ve had operations and been off about 8 weeks per time.

I am not sure it was statutory sick pay for 1st year sick pay kicks in after 3 days sick .. but can’t remember for how long .. I have had one day in the last year.

Currently 2 months full pay and 2 months half pay but this increases each year to a maximum of 5 months full, 5 months half after 5 years. 10 days is fine for usual things like bad colds etc but very poor if you have a serious illness or have to have an operation.

Very poor. Current company is 3 months full pay.

I had a major health issue recently (think life threatening) and currently off sick from work while I try to recover. 10 days would have been nowhere near enough to deal with what happened to me...

To the people who are saying '10 days is fine', it might be the case if you have a cold or the flu but if you have an accident, need major surgery or have to through any other serious physical or mental health issues then it is completely inadequate. And these things unfortunately do happen to people every day.

10 days of sick pay is a sign of a really poor employer.

YANBU. It’s not the occasional single but more the fear of becoming seriously ill

I really think there should be a staggered sick pay and it be enforced by law - so if you are only going to have a couple of colds a yea 10 days is fine but people who have cancer diagnoses and other long term conditions should be protected to have much longer.

I get 6 months full pay then SSP. But I’ve been at the same company a long time. I know newer employees here get far less generous contracts now.

Thanks for the replies. It seems sick pay varies a lot!

As people have said, it’s not the colds etc they bother me rather than becoming seriously ill or needing an operation.

They also expect you to take annual leave for medical appointments. None of it feels very generous.

In my last job illness was SSP only and only once you’ve been off more than 5 days… I used to have to do a shitload of unpaid overtime, and in one month I worked an entire week’s worth of unpaid overtime, had two days off with D&V and those two days were deducted from my salary, so I was actually paid less than usual in spite of all the extra hours I’d done.

I quit not long after that.

@WaitingForSunnyDays have you only worked for the government/large firms?
I also work in tech and outside of those two most firms (especially start-ups) offer similar sick pay to the OP. I've only been working for a decade though.
Except that instead of SSP there's the option of management discretion to grant more paid leave.
It prevents people from taking the piss while ensuring that the genuine ones get as much time off as they need.
I've never seen a black and white 'SSP after X number of days'.

Blimey - we are straight on ssp from day 1 so I'd consider that very generous !

I work in financial services and my company gives six months full pay and six months half pay. Everyone in the company gets private health care cover too.

Sick pay should be by law a necessity for all companies.
As long as it’s a legal sick note from GP or Consultant.
I have a friend with stage 4 cancer who is having chemo and radiotherapy and still going to work because she cannot afford not too ! Bloody disgusting and so morally wrong. It is also a job that involves physical work. She looks so ill.

This is what income protection or critical illness insurance is for. Big companies may be able to pay someone to be off for 6 months but a lot of companies just can't afford to. I'm a bookkeeper for several small companies and a lot of their employees don't realise how much of a struggle it can be to just raise enough cash for them to be paid each month. Directors are often putting in their own money to plug shortfalls.

Standard for the private sector

I'm public sector and get six months full, six months half. But ours is on an increment year by year, ie in year 1, you get 1 month full, 1 month half.

Though, I've worked at my organisation for 7 years and had two sick days when I had an asthma attack and was in hospital for a few nights (coinciding with the weekend so was back to work on Monday). I accept I've been very lucky health-wise, though!

well this company DOES have sick pay. But It's only for 10 days.
Longer term illness that's what SSP and income protection/critical illness exists for as @Roserunner stated.