Sick pay policy may force staff back to work too soon, claims Hertfordshire councillor

Newer staff at Hertfordshire County Council may feel forced to return to work from illness too early – or fail to take time off at all – because of a sick pay policy that’s linked to their length of service, a councillor has claimed.

Currently employees who have joined Hertfordshire County Council less than six months before needing to take sick leave are only entitled to claim Statutory Sick Pay – which is currently £95.85 a week.

But Labour councillor Joshua Bennett Lovell believes that, as a result, there’s the potential for some staff members not to take the necessary leave – because they can’t afford to.

Cllr Bennett Lovell raised the issue at the annual meeting of the county council on Tuesday (May 19), as councillors considered a separate amendment to the council’s pay policy for 2020/21.

Specifically he pointed to those staff members who are required to self-isolate as the result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

He now accepts that ALL staff are currently being given full pay for this leave – regardless of when they joined the council.

But he believes that to ensure this arrangement continues in future it should be formalised in the council’s formal pay policy.

And more generally he says eligibility to sick pay for individual staff members should not be dependent on their length of service.

According to the county council’s existing sick pay policy no employee is paid for the first two days of illness – and after that sick pay depends on length of service.

For example those who have been employed for more than six months, but less than one year, can receive up to one months full pay and one months half pay.

And that increases per year of service, until those employed for three years or longer can receive up to four months full pay and four months half pay.

Although Cllr Bennett Lovell’s comments at the meeting were backed by fellow Labour councillor Nigel Bell, they were not put forward as a formal amendment or voted on.

And a majority of county council members backed the pay policy as it had been presented.

However in response to the comments at the meeting executive member for resources and performance Cllr Ralph Sangster said he heard the concerns relating to the Covid-19 situation.

He said he was sure “full consideration” would be given to any situation that arose at the county council as a consequence of Covid-19.

But he said that the policy needed to last for a “significant period of time” and therefore could not deal with every individual issue as it arose.

And following the meeting a spokesperson for Hertfordshire County Council confirmed that ALL staff who were self isolating as a result of Covid-19 were doing so on full pay.

She said: “The pay policy was approved by the Employment Committee in February 2020, ahead of the Covid-19 crisis.

“Although we are not intending to formally update the pay policy to reflect ‘at pace’ changes arising from the pandemic, we have adapted our working practices and Human Resources policy to deal with staff issues including sickness pay, as a direct result of the crisis.

“One specific adaptation which was proactively made in February, was to waive the first two days of sickness being non-paid if the staff member was either self-isolating or diagnosed with Covid-19.

“This change was welcomed by staff and the unions alike and paved the way for the ongoing open and transparent communications that have been praised by staff and unions.

“Alongside this decision, was a clear message, provided to staff via FAQs on the intranet that if a staff member had to self-isolate they would receive normal pay regardless of length of service.

“These two decisions were taken on the basis of not only being the right thing to do, but more formally in response to the government’s clear instruction that if one is showing the signs of Covid-19 or has been diagnosed then they must self-isolate.”