Husbands job has no sick pay-is this common

[2catsandcounting43]

So, im just looking for opinions really/possibly a place to vent. Its just cost us £60 quid a month to get income protection insurance for my husband as his job does not offer sick pay and its considered a more risky job (hes a forklift truck driver). Hes worked there for 20 years and he just gets SSP, a poor pension that they only started when they legally had to and their annual leave is also the legal minimum.
I know I cant go on at him to leave if hes happy there and I know he stays because its a small business and he likes his boss but I think that's a pretty crap package and I wouldn't be standing for it.
Ladies of mumsnet would you be annoyed?

I think it depends on how they manage it.

I work for a co. that does not pay sick pay, according to my contract. However, I've worked without being late or missing a day, for the last year. I was poorly a few weeks ago (covid?) took two days out asleep and was paid as normal.

I think companies use it to avoid people taking six months off with stress or a bad back. They just can't afford it any more. Margins are too tight.

Is he in a union? Usually this sort of job would have a union who would help liaise with the company for better packages

Too common but some companies will have ability to enhance pay for work place injury or serious illness. Of course not guaranteed so good you have made your own provision which you can rely on.

It's possible that they've been advised that long service awards could be seen as discriminatory and that's why they are no longer offered (it's what consultancies were advising people over 20 years ago, so it's not a new thing).

Unfortunately, SSP isn't that unusual; nor was it unusual for a small, family owned company to only start providing a company pension once auto-enrolment required it. Few companies offer true (valuable), Company-funded benefit packages anymore, despite what their job advertisements proclaim.

Really, if you're concerned about ill health, you should do more research or consider talking to a professional to make sure you're covered for what you most need. Private health insurance, critical illness insurance, income protection and life assurance are all separate but related protection benefits. PMI covers you for policy-specific acute (not chronic) conditions; CI pays out a tax-free lump sum benefit if you're diagnosed with a critical illness covered by the policy, and survive the date of diagnosis by a certain period of time; income protection pays a proportion of your salary for a set period of time if you're unable to work due to illness or injury (it usually only kicks in after a certain period of time - the expectation is company sick pay or SSP will be paid first then, if you fail to recover enough to return to work, IP will kick in). You can also get more specific cover, like cancer cover, which may be relevant to people with a certain age bracket or at risk group.

To answer your 'would you be annoyed with such a crap package' question: yes, I would, but I also acknowledge the reality that most Company-funded benefits are long gone and it's better to be employed with no benefits than have no salary or benefits.

My DD has had 2 jobs both didn't pay sick pay DH gets 10 days a year.

Do you have critical illness cover?
Accident, sickness and unemployment insurance is cheaper than income protections. Might be worth looking into.

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Yes we do x

DH's job wasn't minimum wage either but it was SSP when sick. Luckily we could afford the bills on my wages and some savings when he was diagnosed with terminal cancer, PIP kicked in quickly too as he was able to claim under special rules. I think SSP is the standard for many employees.

We get a max of 6 weeks full pay when we reach over 5 years service and that's the best it gets.
I don't work in an industry that is particularly well paid, but it's a very large business with over 500 employees.
It's the type of place that thinks employee benefits are better than they are as its all for show with discount cards that no one can really make use of (and give rubbish discounts) and things like that.
People stay for their colleagues usually, and fear that another place will be worse.

Aviva does job specific cover its what drs get so if a surgeon can no longer operate they don't just get told go be a gp (5y extra training n v competitive

Very common my hubby y same job 18 years and if he was sick the first 2 weeks they don't pay which in 18 years he has only ever had 2 days off sick thank goodness

It's not unusual in small, independent businesses, no.
I worked for a huge multinational and got all the benefits under the sun. Shareholders effectively owned the company.
DH worked for small, local companies, generally partnerships with max 4 partners who owned the business. He didn't even get a pension contribution until it was mandatory and only ever SSP.
We adjusted our planning accordingly & made sure he paid into private pensions. We were lucky he was rarely sick and didn't have insurance, I could, at a push, pay the bills alone.

I completely get why a small local business can't afford to provide the perks of a multinational or public sector.

I run a small business, we only offer SSP. We do pay people as normal when they have the odd day off for sickness (ie we are more generous than the letter of the contract). We would find it difficult to fund full pay for many weeks for an employee. We decided better to offer the best salaries we could, and let our staff make their own decisions about insurance/savings etc.

We have also looked at business insurance to cover sick pay - it was expensive so we didn't do it.

It doesn't seem to cause us problems recruiting, I think it's a common policy approach.

Small business is a different world from the public sector & large corporates.

I work for a big company in hospitality and they only pay ssp. We don't get paid any sick pay for the first three days either.

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We are with aviva. Its expensive because its job specific and his role is classed as a dangerous job. Hes been off for 2 days this week with a shoulder injury, hopefully he can go back tomorrow. It fucking terrifies me the thought of him being off for more than a couple of weeks. Im the higher earner but we would struggle without his wage and I'd need to work extra shifts. It doesn't seem to Worry him though

I've never had a job with enhanced sick pay (and I'm not on minimum wage. Just worked for small businesses).

I work in professional services but for a small business and we don't receive any perks: only SSP, legal minimum pension, etc. it's not uncommon at all.

I work in insurance. Don’t mean to be rude but have you checked your sickness cover many have a waiting period which is an excess. It means it may not pay out for first 30 days by which time if it’s flu then he be na k at work anyway. £60 is pretty good for manual work.
I don’t get sick pay either although once upon a time full sick pay for 6 months was common in my industry. Lack of trade unions as my dad would say

I have income protection as i dont get paid sick but it doesnt kick in until youve been off 14 weeks..you need to check the small print