Injury at work, sick pay entitlement update

One of the questions frequently asked of us by those who have suffered an injury at work is ‘I only
need time off because I was injured at work, why aren’t they paying me?’

What are workers’ rights?

Unfortunately, your employer is only required to pay Statutory Sick Pay or SSP by law; and then only
if you require more than 4 days off work and are eligible. The current weekly SSP rate is £94.25, paid
for a maximum of 28 weeks. Full details of what you’ll get, eligibility and how to claim can be found
at https://www.gov.uk/statutory-sick-pay

For most of us, receiving only SSP following an accident at work would mean a vast reduction in
income, resulting in immediate and pressing financial difficulty.

 

Immediate help at hand

Thankfully, some companies do offer additional sick pay rights for workers. Your employer must
provide full details of any contractual sick pay or occupational scheme if you have been injured at
work. We would recommend making a formal, written request to your company, if do not already
know what you’ll get. Alternatively, you can check your employment contract or employee
handbook for details.

Employers who do not routinely offer top- up or contractual sick pay may choose to pay you more
than SSP as a discretionary payment. If you have been injured at work and it is clear you will require
time off, you may ask your employer to make discretionary payments. They may choose to do so,
depending on the circumstances of your accident at work and the nature or seriousness of your
injuries.

If you find yourself unable to work and out of pocket, you may be entitled to claim benefits such as
Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment (PIP) or Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit
(IIDB).

You may also be eligible for help with housing costs, including support for mortgage interest and/ or
council tax reduction.

If a loved one needs time off to care for you after your injury, they may also be entitled to claim
Carer’s Allowance and other assistance.

If your loved one has passed away following an injury at work, you may be entitled to claim
bereavement benefits, such as Bereavement Support Payment.

Whatever the circumstances leading to your financial difficulty Citizens Advice can provide
comprehensive guidance; full details of all the help you may be entitled to can be found at
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/

How we can help

Whether you are entitled to full pay or only SSP during your time off, chances are you will still be out
of pocket in comparison to what you should have earned.

In law, the aim of an award of damages is to put the injured person back in the same position as
he/she would have been in if the accident at work had not occurred. In short, this means you are
entitled to recover any shortfall in income caused by your work injury; this may include lost pay,
bonuses, or overtime.

Working out and evidencing how much you have lost can be a challenging process; however we are on hand to guide you through this.

Depending on the severity of your injuries, you may not have returned to work before your claim is
at an end. In such cases, we work closely with medical professionals to ascertain when, if at all, you
will be in a position to return to work. Based on their opinion we can then forecast what you would
have earned, taking into account any promotional opportunities; we can then use this information to
work towards getting you this same amount as part of your claim.