Company Sick Pay, Or Lack Of It
Discussion
Curious to know what others think about this...
Looking at a new role (senior PM role) and the company's terms state that no sick pay provision is offered other than statutory.
Every previous role I've had has offered some provision for if you're off sick. I'm not a serial abuser of the process, or see it as some sort of means to extra free days off, but I like to know that should I get struck down by something nasty that I'm not going to be lying there worrying if this means I'm not going to be able to make the mortgage payment that month. The difference between my weekly income and SSP would be quite painful!!
We're currently discussing this, but would this put you off?
For context, I'm early forties with two kids, a wife and a mortgage to pay for.
Looking at a new role (senior PM role) and the company's terms state that no sick pay provision is offered other than statutory.
Every previous role I've had has offered some provision for if you're off sick. I'm not a serial abuser of the process, or see it as some sort of means to extra free days off, but I like to know that should I get struck down by something nasty that I'm not going to be lying there worrying if this means I'm not going to be able to make the mortgage payment that month. The difference between my weekly income and SSP would be quite painful!!
We're currently discussing this, but would this put you off?
For context, I'm early forties with two kids, a wife and a mortgage to pay for.
Sounds a bit odd to me - do they contribute towards a pension, etc. and are there other benefits such as medical cover? Statutory sick pay kicks in at my company, but not until long after their health insurance would have started to pay out.
My problem with it is that it smacks of being cheap - sure, you don't want to pay for someone to have a holiday whilst being "ill", but I'd be wondering about the financial state of any company who would only pay statutory sick pay, unless that's common practice for a particular industry.
My problem with it is that it smacks of being cheap - sure, you don't want to pay for someone to have a holiday whilst being "ill", but I'd be wondering about the financial state of any company who would only pay statutory sick pay, unless that's common practice for a particular industry.
They offer all the usual benefits, pension, health etc... but nothing CSP wise.
It definitely isn't regular practice for the industry, I dug out the contracts from previous jobs and all offered something (of varying generosity).
As I say, it's not something I plan on making great use of and historically haven't had to.
But like house/car insurance - Should I suddenly need it, it has the potential to cause me serious issues if it's not there.
Is anyone aware of private insurance for this sort of thing? I see LV do a policy, but it:
a) Still falls short of covering a full months take home
b) Made my skin crawl reading how they try to sell it as "spending money"
It definitely isn't regular practice for the industry, I dug out the contracts from previous jobs and all offered something (of varying generosity).
As I say, it's not something I plan on making great use of and historically haven't had to.
But like house/car insurance - Should I suddenly need it, it has the potential to cause me serious issues if it's not there.
Is anyone aware of private insurance for this sort of thing? I see LV do a policy, but it:
a) Still falls short of covering a full months take home
b) Made my skin crawl reading how they try to sell it as "spending money"
Companies can provide whatever they like, although I must admit it is a bit strange. Did you query with them?
You either choose to accept it or don't take the job. You can get private income protection, I've just taken cover out with LV. Normally though it doesn't kick in for x num of weeks, in my instance 13. The payment figure can be whatever you want, although as you'd expect the more you want the more you pay in premiums.
You either choose to accept it or don't take the job. You can get private income protection, I've just taken cover out with LV. Normally though it doesn't kick in for x num of weeks, in my instance 13. The payment figure can be whatever you want, although as you'd expect the more you want the more you pay in premiums.
Perhaps they have had staff abuse their system in the past? We have always paid sick pay at our discretion but we recently had a member of staff who was with us five months & had over 20% of that off sick. We paid SSP & were very grateful that we only pay CSP at our discretion.
I too have private cover that kicks in at 13 weeks, I chose a level of cover that would pay my essential bills ie mortgage etc, this kept the premium sensible. I'm also early 40's with two kids & a mortgage to pay.
I too have private cover that kicks in at 13 weeks, I chose a level of cover that would pay my essential bills ie mortgage etc, this kept the premium sensible. I'm also early 40's with two kids & a mortgage to pay.
SlidingSideways said:
They offer all the usual benefits, pension, health etc... but nothing CSP wise.
It definitely isn't regular practice for the industry, I dug out the contracts from previous jobs and all offered something (of varying generosity).
As I say, it's not something I plan on making great use of and historically haven't had to.
But like house/car insurance - Should I suddenly need it, it has the potential to cause me serious issues if it's not there.
Is anyone aware of private insurance for this sort of thing? I see LV do a policy, but it:
a) Still falls short of covering a full months take home
b) Made my skin crawl reading how they try to sell it as "spending money"
I just accepted a role at a business (currently working my notice period) where they only offered SSP for the first two years of service. Basically, I asked my broker to investigate the cost of insuring myself against this and he advised that the way to go was with a personal Accident & Sickness policy (pays for a maximum of 2 years & the policy is an annually renewed plan, which means the premium will increase year on year) and that it would cost £40-£50 per month to cover the amount that I needed.It definitely isn't regular practice for the industry, I dug out the contracts from previous jobs and all offered something (of varying generosity).
As I say, it's not something I plan on making great use of and historically haven't had to.
But like house/car insurance - Should I suddenly need it, it has the potential to cause me serious issues if it's not there.
Is anyone aware of private insurance for this sort of thing? I see LV do a policy, but it:
a) Still falls short of covering a full months take home
b) Made my skin crawl reading how they try to sell it as "spending money"
I used it as a negotiating tool and in the end they offered me their usual sickness cover but without the 2 year qualifying period. Otherwise I would have been looiking to cover the cost for the insurance in the salary.
I started a thread about it here and the consensus was that for a senior role (which this was) to only offer SSP was unusual but it was more usual at hourly paid level.
If they really want you and have offered you I would imagine that you could negotiate around it one way or another.
Thanks for the replies folks.
I've got an income protection plan with LV at the moment which covers anything really nasty happening to me, but that only kicks in after 6 months (when current employers CSP ends).
I'll dig the paperwork out and check how much is actually covered and see what it's likely to cost to up the cover and drop the qualifying period down to something more in line with the new role and take it from there.
I'm as concerned about the effect taking a week off with flu/norovirus/etc... would have on my take home though, given the way the contract is written at the moment (young kids are a bugger for bringing this stuff home with them, I've escaped quite lightly so for but my wife has been hit quite badly a couple of times)
I have raised all this with them and am currently awaiting a response.
I've got an income protection plan with LV at the moment which covers anything really nasty happening to me, but that only kicks in after 6 months (when current employers CSP ends).
I'll dig the paperwork out and check how much is actually covered and see what it's likely to cost to up the cover and drop the qualifying period down to something more in line with the new role and take it from there.
I'm as concerned about the effect taking a week off with flu/norovirus/etc... would have on my take home though, given the way the contract is written at the moment (young kids are a bugger for bringing this stuff home with them, I've escaped quite lightly so for but my wife has been hit quite badly a couple of times)
I have raised all this with them and am currently awaiting a response.
Jonnas said:
I just accepted a role at a business (currently working my notice period) where they only offered SSP for the first two years of service. Basically, I asked my broker to investigate the cost of insuring myself against this and he advised that the way to go was with a personal Accident & Sickness policy (pays for a maximum of 2 years & the policy is an annually renewed plan, which means the premium will increase year on year) and that it would cost £40-£50 per month to cover the amount that I needed.
I used it as a negotiating tool and in the end they offered me their usual sickness cover but without the 2 year qualifying period. Otherwise I would have been looiking to cover the cost for the insurance in the salary.
I started a thread about it here and the consensus was that for a senior role (which this was) to only offer SSP was unusual but it was more usual at hourly paid level.
If they really want you and have offered you I would imagine that you could negotiate around it one way or another.
Thanks, just been and dug out your thread and it has some interesting points.I used it as a negotiating tool and in the end they offered me their usual sickness cover but without the 2 year qualifying period. Otherwise I would have been looiking to cover the cost for the insurance in the salary.
I started a thread about it here and the consensus was that for a senior role (which this was) to only offer SSP was unusual but it was more usual at hourly paid level.
If they really want you and have offered you I would imagine that you could negotiate around it one way or another.
Will have a look at the cost of self insuring and see if they can up the salary to cover the cost of that.
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