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Not A Great Place To Work - LTU Opposes Sick Pay Changes
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Date: 30th Oct 2006
From January 2007 the Bank plans to make new staff in Telephony subject to a two-tier level of sick pay entitlement. There will be a basic provision that will provide for roughly a third of the current staff entitlement and this will only be topped up (on an annual basis) to the normal full entitlement at the discretion of the line manager.
The Bank has also made it clear that this approach could be extended and specifically has refused to rule it out for existing staff.
LTU has said that it completely opposes this policy. The Union believes it is short-sighted and misguided in that it will not address the underlying reasons for higher sickness absence rates or achieve material reductions in sickness rates without hitting staff who are genuinely ill.
The Union said it had no time for staff who abuse sick pay entitlements but this proposal was not the answer and all the evidence shows that the Bank cannot be trusted to exercise the sort of careful discretion this policy demands. It is potentially a legal minefield, puts managers in an invidious position and reinforces a culture of staff being treated as guilty unless they can prove otherwise. It won’t work.
LTU also said that this system would further enhance the pressure many staff with genuine sickness already feel of having to attend work when they are not fit do so. This is in no-one’s interest and will mean that staff with genuine illnesses will have their sick pay entitlement withheld.
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