Any HR people about?

[Holliegee]

My son has handed in his notice at a reputable investments firm and is currently working a notice period.
Hes unfortunately now caught a flu like bug that is going around and feels dreadful, he rang in and said he would work from home as he feels to ill to go in and doesn’t want to spread the germs, he’s rang in saying he’s feeling even worse and needs to stop.
(he does have health issues that means he struggles when I’ll although he is rarely off work) - they have said that’s fine but he isn’t entitled to pay whilst he’s working his notice and off sick-is this normal?

Surprised to hear this but it will be a policy. The first 3 days of sickness are not obliged to be paid. The policy will dictate what happens in those 3

For company sick pay it’ll depend on his contract. I wouldn’t say it’s common, but I guess you can understand companies with good sick pay not wanting to risk people getting signed off sick and getting paid for doing nothing when they are leaving soon anyway.

if he qualifies for SSP, he would still be entitled to that.

Thankyou, in the past sick pay has just been paid - I think the sick pay must change if you’re working your notice period.
It wasn’t HR that told him this, it was his manager - so I’ve suggested he email HR.

He should confirm the policy with HR.

Sick pay policy doesn’t normally change. He’s still an employee. So the policies still apply unless the contract says otherwise.

He’s actually resigned with immediate effect today - I’m really surprised/sad that my son who is a really positive professional young man and was having such a positive time there has been bullied so much by one colleague it’s caused this backlash on his health.
i think it’s made me aware just how everyone is hanging on and it only takes the neccesary pressure to break you.

However HR now want to speak with him and have answered his resignation with compassion.

Tell him to check his contract/company handbook. If it mentions a policy of not paying company sick pay during notice periods, or that company sick pay is discretionary, then they are likely in the right not to pay him at the usual rate.

Legally, he is not entitled to anything for the first three days of his sick leave. He then becomes legally entitled to statutory sick pay for up to 28 weeks - being in a notice period does not impact this.

You mention bullying - was that the reason for his resignation? Depending on his length of service and how he and the company dealt with it, he may have a claim for constructive dismissal.

That often happens.

sick pay is usually discretionary (ie full pay) and whilst company usually does not amend to ssp it does for people taking the mick.

the number of people who are sick during notice period is very disproportionate to their normal sickness rate. So paying ssp then is standard. And legal.

It will depend on the company’s policies and his contract, I’m afraid

Sorry I edited as I misread your post!!! Agree

I thought you said he had flu? You didn’t mention bullying earlier.

@Holliegee I'm struggling with the detail.
He resigned
He caught flu and coukd wfh
Symptoms got worse and he couldn't wfh
Advised no sick pay during notice period (he's entitled to SSP from day 4)
He had been bullied and it's impacted his health making him ill
He has now resigned with immediate effect and HR are being compassionate (yes they would be).

Length of service?
What does the contract say re sickness?
Has a grievance been raised re the alleged bullying?
Are there performance issues?
Any protected characteristics?

Advice: sensible conversation with HR, he'd like his last day asap, his notice, sickness and accrued and untaken A/L paid and an agreed reference.

It sounds as though there's more to this than meets the eye. ET's are v stressful, and there's a three year backlog to hear cases. He needs to draw a line and move on.

Arrgghhh I’m sorry - I didn’t mention the bullying in the first instance, just thought I’d ask about the sick pay.

Yes, sadly it’s true - he’s been there over 2 years and done incredibly well.
For the last few months a new manager has been on his dept and has singled him out for pip meetings and saying his work isn’t fast enough, despite no complaints in the past with other managers - it had been noted he went above and beyond and is frequently called to other depts to help with issues (he’s vulnerable person trained).

This new managers made him quite miserable and teased him about confidential health concerns and son decided he wasn’t up for this so he resigned with notice (he had spoken to HR but nothing really changed) so whilst working his notice he came down with flu as have others - he rang in sick said manager answered and told him he wouldn’t be getting sick pay (previously he has had sick pay on about 5 days over the last two years.
He spoke to HR who said this was true ( because he was on his notice period probably).
The manager then spoke with him again and was saying something along the lines of ‘are you too poorly to work from home, how very sad’ or similar line of taunt.

Ds then went into work after 2 unpaid sick days off and handed in his notice with immediate effect…… then HR have emailed him to have a chat and see what’s happened.
He emailed back and said he wasn’t feeling up to having a face to face that day but if they wanted to speak to him with regards to the situation he’s resigned on, he would speak to them at a later date.

I'd suggest your son speaks to ACAS regarding the sick pay and bullying manager. They will be able to advise him; their helpline and resources are in the link below.

https://www.acas.org.uk/

It's tough to comment on the PIP thing without all the details, but it seems very odd that nobody else in the company questioned why a model employee who not only does well for himself, but is called upon to help out in other departments, is on a PIP.

Does he have any written evidence of the concerns he raised with HR? Or their response? Constructive dismissal can be difficult to prove, and when it's related to bullying and failure to address a grievance, it needs to be quite serious.

It does also hinge on whether he raised an official grievance though. If he feels that he has, get him to speak to ACAS or an employment law specialist. If he does want to make a claim against them, he only has three months to do so.

Personally, unless your son feels so hard done by that he can't move past it, I'd just tell him to cut ties and focus on his health.