- Conference
- 2024 National Health Care Service Group Conference
- Date
- 8 December 2023
- Decision
- Carried
Conference notes that Section 14 Sickness Absence (England) of the NHS Terms and Conditions Handbook clearly states that ‘pay during sickness absence is calculated on the basis of what the individual would have been paid had they been at work’.
Conference is concerned that following a series of amendments to the original Agenda for Change T&C Handbook this is clearly no longer the case. The gradual abolition of sick pay for “payments outside normal hours”, culminating with the end of such payments altogether in the 2018 ‘Framework agreement’, has resulted in shift workers being financially punished for being off sick. Regular night shift and weekend workers, in particular, suffer the most by losing their out of hours enhancements when they are ill.
The Covid Guidance, jointly agreed by the government and staff side at the start of the pandemic, ensured that staff testing positive, shielding or self-isolating received their full pay as if “had they been at work”, including shift allowances. This was a recognition that ‘presenteeism’ amongst staff exists and they would be less likely to come to work if the threat of losing money was taken away.
Conference believes the principles adopted during the pandemic should be applied for all sickness episodes within the NHS.
We call on the SGE to raise this as a matter of urgency at the NHS Staff Council and prioritise restoring sick pay in England in parity with Section 14 of the Terms and Conditions Handbook (Scotland and Northern Ireland version) below:
‘14.4 The definition of full pay will include regularly paid supplements, including any recruitment and retention premia, payments for work outside normal hours and high cost area supplements. Sick pay is calculated on the basis of what the individual would have received had he/she been at work.’