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Should I be paid less if my GP recommends reducing my hours temporarily?
I suffer from arthritis in my foot and work full time. My job involves being on my feet all day. I have had several periods of sickness from work due to this. However, I visited my GP recently and she suggested reduced hours for several weeks to help rest my condition. My employer has accommodated these hours, but I will not get full pay. Is this classed as a phased return as other employees in my employment receive full pay for phased return? My employer has advised that I will not get sick pay, but if they did pay it then my lack of hours would be seen as another episode of sick leave. Where do I stand on this, as it seems it would have been better financially to go off sick?
The difference here is between returning to work after a period of sick leave and reducing hours due to a medical condition.
A phased return is where you come back to work on reduced hours, then increase to full hours and workload gradually after a period of long-term sickness. It also usually has a paid period, which will be defined in the sickness policy, but once this has ended you will be on a pay for the hours worked basis.
I would always advise checking the sickness/absence policy to see what the Company’s stance is on each. I would also advise speaking with HR to clarify if any other support is available, such as looking a providing a chair/ more rest breaks or even an alternative position.
If you decided to go off sick again you would need to again look at the policy, as sick pay will only allow for a certain number of absences before this runs out.
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