handed in my notice whilst off sick - deducted 1.6k of wages!

[atmywitsend13]

This is somewhat confusing so please bear with me.

I was signed off by my doctor on the 26th Feb for two weeks. Then went back to doctor 11th March and was signed off another two weeks to 25th March. I came back yesterday.

Whilst I was on sick leave I had a letter from my company saying they were only going to pay me SSP from the 17th March - to the 20th as then the 21st, 24th and 25th of March were going to be unpaid.

I handed in my notice on the 19th March.

My question is - from the 19th March surely I would be paid my normal working rate - considering I am 'working' notice and therefore not on SSP anymore - even though I was still signed off sick.

Can someone help with this please.

I due to start my new job 22nd April.

Thank you

Sorry I think your company is right

www.gov.uk/handing-in-your-notice-resigning-leaving-job

Pay rights during your notice period

You’re entitled to your normal hourly pay rate during your notice period, as set out in your contract of employment, for any time that you’re:
off sick
on holiday
temporarily laid off
on maternity, paternity or adoption leave
available to work but your employer doesn’t give you any

?

You aren't entitled to be paid for your notice period if you were off sick and on ssp. You are only entitled to the "normal" ssp. That is what it means by normal hourly rate.

If you are off sick during your notice period you will only be entitled to whatever your contractual sick pay is. So if you are only contractually entitled to SSP that's all you will get.

ah ok! Wish pay slips came with breakdowns! Thanks all

It's not quite that simple. The link is misleading because it starts off saying "usually" but then later says you are entitled to normal pay if you're off sick, without caveats.

According to the Employment Rights Act you are entitled to your normal rate of pay (not the normal rate you get when off sick) if you are off sick, or on maternity leave etc during your notice period.

However case law has since established that if your contractual notice period exceeds the statutory minimum notice period by a week or more, that doesn't apply and your employer can pay you whatever they'd normally pay if you are off sick.

If the termination of your employment is because you resigned rather than were dismissed, you have to physically leave before your employer has to pay this additional amount, which is presumably in case for whatever reason you don't leave in the end.

What's your notice period OP, and how long have you been employed?

I have been employed since feb 2012. Notice is four weeks, I handed it in on the 19th March, returned to work the 26th March. I leave on the 15th April - start new job 16th April.

I have had so many problems with this company, I was signed off for stress/depression for four weeks and they wrote to me saying I was going to be paid SSP from 17th March and that my absence was causing operational difficulties - however when I was in work (before going off sick) I was put on an informal performance plan - and had no work.

Its all a bit of a hairy one, I am best off out, and I understand the SSP and wouldn't want to make myself look stupid by pointing the finger at my employer as sickness is discretionary - but surely if I have been medically signed off I should be paid regardless. Or is this not the case?

xx

Ok if your notice period is 4 weeks that's a contractual notice period of more than a week more than the statutory basic you'd be entitled to (two weeks), so the full-pay-while-off-sick-during-notice thing doesn't apply.

In terms of SSP, here's the rules about when you get it and when it stops. The fact that you are in your notice period doesn't impact SSP in itself.